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Report published into Powys mountain bike event illness outbreakMonday, 1 December 2008The final report on the investigation of an outbreak of diarrhoeal illness that followed a Powys mountain biking event is now available.
The National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS) and Environmental Health colleagues at Powys County Council launched the investigation earlier this year following information received from riders who took part in a Mountain Bike Marathon in Builth Wells on 5 and 6 July 2008. Staff at the NPHS’s Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in Cardiff launched an internet based questionnaire to investigate the outbreak and e-mailed an invitation to participate to 664 of the mountain bikers who took part in the event. A total of 355 responses were received, with 161 reporting symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting following the event. All responses were used to investigate the risk factors to which the race participants were exposed. The report gives details of this investigation and concludes that the outbreak was probably caused by Campylobacter, spread to the cyclists by mud which was contaminated with sheep faeces. The heavy overnight rain is likely to have contributed to the outbreak by increasing the amount of liquid mud on the course. The report concludes by making recommendations for both the participants and organisers of such events with the aim of reducing the risk of similar outbreaks in the future. Dr Siân Griffiths of the NPHS said: “We have been delighted with the help we have received from the mountain bikers when investigating this outbreak of illness. “We would also like to thank the race organisers for their co-operation and our colleagues in Environmental Health at Powys County Council. “We hope that this report and the recommendations within it will help reduce the risk of something like this happening again.” Anyone who would like to comment on the report should contact bikes.outbreak@nphs.wales.nhs.uk Downloads |
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