A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl who suffered kidney failure in March is thought to have been made ill by E coli contracted at the farm which six months later was at the centre of national alert.

Holly Nethercoat was kept in an isolation unit at Great Ormond Street hospital, London for two weeks after a visit to Godstone farm in Surrey. The farm was forced to close three weeks ago after 12 children were hospitalised after the outbreak of the virus and another 75 were taken ill.

Despite the likelihood Holly contracted the bug at the farm, it was not informed. It is not mandatory to report E coli cases to the Health Protection Agency.

Peter Ainsworth, MP for East Surrey, home of Godstone Farm, said: “There should be an automatic requirement for outbreaks of this kind of infection to be reported.”

The agency refused to say whether it had been told of Holly’s case. However, Jackie Flaherty, owner of Godstone farm, said: “We absolutely haven’t heard of any cases before August.”

Great Ormond Street said “good public health practice” meant the case should have been reported to the local health protection unit but it refused to say whether it had done so in Holly’s case because of patient confidentiality.

Holly, now 6, was treated for haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a potentially fatal complication almost always caused by E coli. She must now have annual check-ups because of an increased risk of kidney problems.

Mark Nethercoat, Holly’s father, said: “My daughter went to hell and back, and I can only conclude it was because something was grossly wrong with both the farm and the Health Protection Agency.”

Nethercoat and his wife Jan, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, took Holly and sister Emma-Leigh to the farm to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

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