One dead, two ill in Scottish E coli outbreak

LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) A woman has died and two more people are seriously ill after an outbreak of E coli in Scotland which may have been caused by cooked meat from the supermarket chain Morrison, health authorities said today.

The supermarket said it had withdrawn sliced cold meats from two stores in the Paisley area of Scotland after an elderly woman died from an infection of E.coli 0157.

''There is no conclusive evidence yet but initial investigations have indicated that there may possibly be a link to the consumption of some sliced cold meats bought locally from the delicatessen counters of two Morrisons supermarkets in Paisley,'' the state-run National Health Service for Glasgow and Clyde said in a statement.

It said two other people were ''seriously ill'' in hospital, and four more were recovering at home.

E. coli is a common bug which is present everywhere in the environment. Mostly it helps people to stay healthy, but some strains -- such as the O157 strain -- are potentially fatal.

Last year, five people were treated for kidney failure after an outbreak of E coli linked to a nursery in Scotland. In another case in Wales in 2005, a five-year-old boy died and more than 160 people were affected by an E.coli outbreak which spread through children at 38 schools and their parents and relatives.

The incubation period for E coli O157 is usually around one to 14 days. Symptoms associated with it include stomach cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.

Morrisons shares were hit hard by news of the supermarket's possible link to the outbreak, losing 3.2 per cent in early stock market trade and falling to 257.5 pence.

''Although the full facts are not yet known, we have, as a precautionary measure, withdrawn sliced cold meat products from sale at the delicatessen counters of two stores in Paisley,'' the supermarket, Britain's fourth-biggest, said in a statement.

''We advise anyone who has bought sliced cold meat products locally from the delicatessen counters in these two stores not to consume them,'' it said. ''No other products or Morrisons stores are involved in this investigation.'' Britain's supermarkets have faced unusually intense probing in the past year about how they ensure food safety.

Besides dealing with the impact of bird flu and foot and mouth outbreaks, five supermarkets had to clear houmous from their shelves in February after traces of salmonella were found in two Marks and Spencer varieties.

A BBC undercover investigation at Tesco and J Sainsbury supermarkets hit the headlines in May when it showed employees sometimes failing to follow food hygiene rules.

REUTERS SBC KP1535