E Coli awareness among people who visit the
countryside is low, with two-thirds of visitors having no knowledge
of the virus, a survey has revealed.
Two-thirds of rural residents and visitors to
the countryside who had heard of E Coli O157 said they took
measures to reduce their risk of contracting the potentially deadly
infection, according to researchers from the Universities of
Aberdeen and Bangor.
But most of the actions people described
involved cooking meat properly, and few cited ways of reducing the
risk around farm animals and in the countryside. A third did not
believe they needed to adapt their everyday hygiene and cleanliness
routines to avoid the risks posed by E Coli.
Over 2,000 tourists, residents and farmers
from North Wales and the Grampian region - which has one of the
world's highest rates of the infection - took part in the
survey.
The study aims to build a better understanding
of public knowledge of E Coli O157 in a bid to reduce cases of the
infection in rural communities.
Dr Colette Jones, from the University of
Aberdeen's School of Geosciences, said: "In light of last year's E
Coli O157 outbreak on the open farm in Surrey it is important to
recognise that rural visitors are not as well informed as they
might be."