R.C. Anderson
This Week’s Specials … E-Coli and Gastroenteritis … pick them up at a Shopping Centre near you
July 5th 2007 06:05
There are going to be people out there who would consider this post to be a big panic over nothing or not worth worrying about …
… and you may be right.
But it’s something that I wanted to share. Something that caught my attention straight away and that I consider to be inappropriate at best, and a potentially serious health risk at worse.
Yesterday my family and I went shopping at our local shopping centre. The centre in our suburb is small, with a number of speciality shops, a shop selling uncooked and cooked chicken products (consisting predominantly of one long counter full of the prepared food items, common to this type of store), a Coles supermarket and a substantial food court.
Quite often, especially during school holidays, the centre will provide free or low-cost activities to entertain children while their parents shop, such as craft workshops. These activities are well supervised and generally well patronised. A wonderful idea.
The floor space used for such activities is located directly outside the Coles supermarket and the chicken shop, and adjacent to the food court.
Nothing wrong with that, I hear you say, and you’d be right. That is, until yesterday, when we discovered that this school holidays the centre had provided a petting zoo (or mobile farm if you prefer) for the children’s entertainment. A pen had been erected to house farm birds and other small farm animals and children could enter the pen and pet and feed the animals, while desperately dodging poo, wee and other unmentionable substances.
And that’s what I have a problem with.
Petting zoos are a great idea. As well as providing entertainment they also educate children and give them the chance to ‘meet’ animals up close, something that many city children do not have the opportunity to do otherwise. However there are risks involved, health risks, known as zoonoses.
In short, zoonoses are diseases capable of being passed from animals to humans and many common farm animals, such as chickens, cattle, sheep, dogs and cats can be carriers. Zoonoses can be transmitted in a variety of ways; directly, through bites and scratches, or indirectly, through faeces, urine, saliva, blood and other bodily secretions and fluids. Harmful infections can be passed on to humans from animals who show no outward sign of illness.
One example of a harmful bacteria that can be transmitted from cattle to humans is a form of toxic e-coli which is found naturally in the gut of affected cattle and can cause vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, high fever and stomach cramps in humans. In rare cases the infection can develop into a condition called Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS), causing damage to the kidneys and red blood cells. This can be fatal for young children, the elderly and people with a weakened immune system.
Toxic forms of e-coli can be spread through infected food as well as through contact with infected animals.
Toxic e-coli is just one example of a bacteria that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Others include leptospirosis, ringworm, salmonellosis and Q Fever infection.
The main issue I have with the petting zoo in our shopping centre is its proximity with food. All guidelines offered to petting zoo operators by state governments include cleanliness and hygiene recommendations, forcefully dominated by the necessity to wash hands after visiting the zoo.
Operators are strongly urged to ensure hand washing facilities are close by and display prominent signage making visitors aware of the need to wash hands immediately after leaving the pen. Unfortunately, the only hand washing facilities available in our centre are in the public toilets which are not conveniently located close to the petting farm.
In this situation, the guidelines recommend that operators provide hand washing / sanitising facilities such as an anti-bacterial, alcohol based cleansing lotion or wipes.
These were not provided by the petting farm in our shopping centre.
It is, of course, the parent’s responsibility to ensure their children wash their hands thoroughly after touching animals, in particular when the zoo is placed just metres away from the Coles supermarket which has fruit and vegetables directly inside the entrance. Children touch animals then enter Coles and touch fruit/veg, possibly eating some in the process (it seems like no child can resist grapes when they walk past). Another shopper comes by and picks up that apple or pear or cherry that the child touched … another potential victim.
There is also the responsibility of the shopping centre management to ensure hygiene and cleanliness is upheld, especially so close to the food court. I honestly think that our centre is too small for such a petting zoo, considering that it is surrounded by cooked and uncooked food.
All children should be given the opportunity to ‘meet’ and learn about animals and the provision of holiday activities and entertainment by shopping centres is an excellent idea, however I believe that there are more suitable activities for a small centre such as ours than a petting zoo.
Maybe I am over-reacting to this but with two ‘older’ young children and a six week old baby to consider, the fruit in Coles just doesn’t look particularly appetising to me right now (especially considering that my two ‘older’ youngsters are guilty of grape stealing too).
E-coli is not welcome in my house.
… and you may be right.
But it’s something that I wanted to share. Something that caught my attention straight away and that I consider to be inappropriate at best, and a potentially serious health risk at worse.
Yesterday my family and I went shopping at our local shopping centre. The centre in our suburb is small, with a number of speciality shops, a shop selling uncooked and cooked chicken products (consisting predominantly of one long counter full of the prepared food items, common to this type of store), a Coles supermarket and a substantial food court.
Quite often, especially during school holidays, the centre will provide free or low-cost activities to entertain children while their parents shop, such as craft workshops. These activities are well supervised and generally well patronised. A wonderful idea.
The floor space used for such activities is located directly outside the Coles supermarket and the chicken shop, and adjacent to the food court.
Nothing wrong with that, I hear you say, and you’d be right. That is, until yesterday, when we discovered that this school holidays the centre had provided a petting zoo (or mobile farm if you prefer) for the children’s entertainment. A pen had been erected to house farm birds and other small farm animals and children could enter the pen and pet and feed the animals, while desperately dodging poo, wee and other unmentionable substances.
And that’s what I have a problem with.
Petting zoos are a great idea. As well as providing entertainment they also educate children and give them the chance to ‘meet’ animals up close, something that many city children do not have the opportunity to do otherwise. However there are risks involved, health risks, known as zoonoses.
In short, zoonoses are diseases capable of being passed from animals to humans and many common farm animals, such as chickens, cattle, sheep, dogs and cats can be carriers. Zoonoses can be transmitted in a variety of ways; directly, through bites and scratches, or indirectly, through faeces, urine, saliva, blood and other bodily secretions and fluids. Harmful infections can be passed on to humans from animals who show no outward sign of illness.
One example of a harmful bacteria that can be transmitted from cattle to humans is a form of toxic e-coli which is found naturally in the gut of affected cattle and can cause vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, high fever and stomach cramps in humans. In rare cases the infection can develop into a condition called Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS), causing damage to the kidneys and red blood cells. This can be fatal for young children, the elderly and people with a weakened immune system.
Toxic forms of e-coli can be spread through infected food as well as through contact with infected animals.
Toxic e-coli is just one example of a bacteria that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Others include leptospirosis, ringworm, salmonellosis and Q Fever infection.
The main issue I have with the petting zoo in our shopping centre is its proximity with food. All guidelines offered to petting zoo operators by state governments include cleanliness and hygiene recommendations, forcefully dominated by the necessity to wash hands after visiting the zoo.
Operators are strongly urged to ensure hand washing facilities are close by and display prominent signage making visitors aware of the need to wash hands immediately after leaving the pen. Unfortunately, the only hand washing facilities available in our centre are in the public toilets which are not conveniently located close to the petting farm.
In this situation, the guidelines recommend that operators provide hand washing / sanitising facilities such as an anti-bacterial, alcohol based cleansing lotion or wipes.
These were not provided by the petting farm in our shopping centre.
It is, of course, the parent’s responsibility to ensure their children wash their hands thoroughly after touching animals, in particular when the zoo is placed just metres away from the Coles supermarket which has fruit and vegetables directly inside the entrance. Children touch animals then enter Coles and touch fruit/veg, possibly eating some in the process (it seems like no child can resist grapes when they walk past). Another shopper comes by and picks up that apple or pear or cherry that the child touched … another potential victim.
There is also the responsibility of the shopping centre management to ensure hygiene and cleanliness is upheld, especially so close to the food court. I honestly think that our centre is too small for such a petting zoo, considering that it is surrounded by cooked and uncooked food.
All children should be given the opportunity to ‘meet’ and learn about animals and the provision of holiday activities and entertainment by shopping centres is an excellent idea, however I believe that there are more suitable activities for a small centre such as ours than a petting zoo.
Maybe I am over-reacting to this but with two ‘older’ young children and a six week old baby to consider, the fruit in Coles just doesn’t look particularly appetising to me right now (especially considering that my two ‘older’ youngsters are guilty of grape stealing too).
E-coli is not welcome in my house.
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Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
Go here... Breaking Posts
...because you are not overreacting at all.
Have anti-bac hand gel, will travel.
I have a problem with the food handling people, the ones that wear gloves to make your sandwich but scratch their faces (and God knows what else???) and then continue making your sandwich...
....gag.....
Zoonoses????
...well....it is a (nose) petting zoo...
big hug my sweet Cara...
Dusk
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
Food handlers ... YES!
They wear the same gloves to make a sandwich as they do to take your money ... a notoriusly germ-ridden thing.
Talking about hygiene, Maybe I should direct people to one of your posts which is particularly relevant (not that it has anything to do with petting zoos but ... anyway!!).
So if you want to never look at your handbag the same way again ... have a look at this.
Take care and big hugs
Cara. xxxx
PS Zoonoses? I know ... I kind of like it!
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
and I hate public toilets!
Comment by DuskDevi
Rucks and Rolls
Rugby World Cup 2007
I can see you!!!!!!
...well...I mean you know that already...(and it's not like I haven't before...) but....this is so cool...and damn you woman...you didn't change your homepage pic so that I could see a bigger one of the blog tag pic!!
The pic...you...look gorgeous!!!...
...you look like Jodie Foster.
I think Jodie is gorgeous.
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
Nice pic
I don't think you are over-reacting especially because you have Mac.
My youngest Christian has by far been the 'sickest' child I have had. Simply because he has two older siblings that aren't as clean as I would like them to be (that horrible age where they just don't care about hygiene) and so Christian with the weakest immune system is constantly getting sick.
I've just found out today that it looks like he has had a bout of glandular fever; just to compound everything.
Thanks for the info re zoonoses.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by David
I like the idea of providing a place to keep children entertained or occupied while the parents shop, but a shopping centre zoo so they can learn about animals?
Why not just put all the children in a glass-fronted room where they can watch the shoppers?
David ...
This is Bindi Irwin's idea isn't it?
Comment by David
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
It's not the best pic ... I should probably try to get a better one this weekend.
xxxx
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
My son is at 'that' age too, where hygiene is a dirty word. From what I understand, he'll be at that age for at least the next ten years!!!
I hope everything gets better soon ... g fever isn't nice.
All the best
A. xx
Comment by Andrea
V8 Supercar Pitstop
What an excellent idea. Or we could put bars along the front of the Coles store to keep the
animalsshoppers from escaping. It'd need a sign, of course, telling the children not to feed the animals.Imagine how much they could learn ...!
A xx