NHS Lothian has said it is investigating four cases of Legionella longbeachae linked to gardening compost. Two patients are currently being treated in intensive care in hospital. Another two have been discharged after treatment. Symptoms of the infection can include headaches, diarrhoea or a dry cough followed by pneumonia.
The UK health board is trying to identify the source of the outbreak. All four patients are said to be keen gardeners and aged between 64 and 82. They had all recently bought different products containing gardening compost before they became infected.
Public health experts believe the outbreak is linked to commercial gardening compost.
The Growing Media Association (GMA) is aware of the recent outbreak of Legionella longbeachae in Scotland which is reportedly from contaminated bagged growing media. They are in contact with NHS Lothian and have offered our full support with the investigation into the source of the contamination, which has not yet been determined.
Until the most recent outbreak, there had been only 12 reported cases of Legionella potentially connected to the longbeachae microbe in Great Britain since 1990. Only three of those cases are thought to be related to gardening. In the same period, the UK public has used well over a billion bags of compost. Nevertheless, the growing media industry is committed to acting in a responsible manner and has conducted a global analysis of the situation to inform the appropriate policy on handling and labelling advice. This analysis was assessed by an independent microbiologist in April this year. The conclusion was that the extremely low incidence rate would make it disproportionate to apply warning labels to bagged growing media. Instead, labelling should promote good hygiene practice, including the importance of hand washing after all gardening activities, particularly before eating and drinking. This is standard practice for GMA manufacturers.
Source: BBC, HTA
Announcements
Vacancies
- Head Grower Strawberries, Australia
- Growing Manager for Hydroponic strawberry producer
- Farm Manager Costa Rica
- Regional Sales Manager Fresh Produce
- Head Grower Strawberries, Norway
- Export Trade Manager
- Business Developer - Northern Europe
- Orchard Sector Manager
- Grower
- International Citrus Account Manager
Gardeners urged to wash hands immediately after using compost:
UK: Legionella outbreak in Scotland linked to growing media
Publication date:
Receive the daily newsletter in your email for free | Click here
Other news in this sector:
- 2023-09-18 2023 Canadian harvest of horticultural peat moss as of August 31
- 2023-09-14 "Semi-substrate growing ensures rapid and uniform establishment immediately after planting"
- 2023-08-11 “Quality is the start and end point because it allows us to establish a price”
- 2023-08-10 New coco substrate uses the entire husk
- 2023-08-09 “Ideal solution for growers to transition from the soil to pots or substrate slabs”
- 2023-07-13 Growcoon awarded with the OK Compost Home certificate
- 2023-07-12 “Helping growers overcome growing media challenges”
- 2023-07-10 New growing medium solutions presented at Cultivate'23
- 2023-06-29 UK: New investment in peat in fight against climate change
- 2023-06-19 "Our sector is making a big contribution to making society more sustainable"
- 2023-06-08 Stephan Schmidt Group takes over customer base of clay segment from Griendstveen
- 2023-06-07 Hydrogel-based substrate shows promising results
- 2023-06-07 "Gardening world realizes the importance of treading lightly on Mother Earth's soil"
- 2023-05-24 Philippines: Development of coco coir to stop coconut farming waste
- 2023-05-17 Sustainable growing media for CEA
- 2023-05-12 Buffered coco coir achieves OMRI listing
- 2023-05-02 “Substrate enriched with organic compost offers powerful nutritional benefits to growers”
- 2023-05-01 "Our buffered cocopeat is widely used in the market"
- 2023-04-21 Constant supply of wood fibers, another step on the road to peat-free substrates
- 2023-04-03 “The horticultural sector is heading towards peat-free potting soil”
