SIX people in the Morecambe and Lancaster area have been infected with salmonella poisoning caused by milk which had not been properly pasteurised. Doctors are regularly visiting a sick old lady at a nursing home in Lancaster. All stocks of milk and dairy products have had to be destroyed in the home. The local cases have been linked to more than 30 similar cases in the Preston area. Now public health specialists from the North West Lancashire and Morecambe bay health authorities are trying to contain the outbreak and say it is unlikely that any further cases will develop.

They think the cases were linked to milk or cream supplied by a Woodplumpton farm through doorstep delivery, local shops and a number of Spar outlets. A spokesman for Morecambe Bay Health Authority said: "All suspect milk or cream has been withdrawn from points of sale but if anyone has any doubts about recently bought products, the simplest thing to do is pour it down the sink."

The pasteurisation plant a the farm is being repaired and will be fully checked before fresh supplies are produced.

Dr David Telford, a consultant in communicable disease control for the area, has written to all local GPs advising them on how to treat suspected salmonella cases. A spokesman for the health authority said: "Dr Telford did this as a precautionary measure. Symptoms which indicate a salmonella infection include diarrhoea, vomiting and or abdominal pain. If these symptoms don't clear up within a day or two, see your family doctor."

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