Parasite horror after feeding lambs at farm

A FATHER has described his family's horrific experience as they feared for his four-year-old son’s life when he was infected with a parasite after visiting a farm.

- SHAURYA SHAURYA

Gareth Carpenter said his son, Michael, fell ill days after visiting Cowbridge Farm Shop with his grandmother on Friday, April 11.

Tests later revealed he had been infected with a parasite called cryptosporidium, which lives in the intestines of infected animals and humans.

Public Health Wales has confirmed that at least 47 people have been infected after visiting the farm in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is now investigating the outbreak.

Gareth, 46, said it was a few days later, on Monday, April 14, when Michael became sick. They had travelled to Malaga, in Spain, on holiday with Gareth’s partner, Kate Wiejak.

Initially they thought Michael had just had “too much sun” but Gareth said it soon became evident it was something more serious and the four-year-old was taken to hospital.

It was only when they got back home that further tests done on their GP’s recommendation showed Michael had contracted a cryptosporidium infection.

Gareth said: “He's had chicken pox, he’s had flu, he has had viruses, he had many, many, many things, as you can imagine kids do when they mix in with other children, but I've never, ever seen him that ill before.”

Michael's visit to the farm with his grandmother was part of a lamb-and calf-feeding experience.

At first the farm had posted a brief statement in which it announced the closure of its petting and feeding experiences due to “unforeseen circumstances” but the post has since been removed from its Facebook page.

The parasite cryptosporidium lives in the faeces of animals that have been infected and can lead to stomach illness in humans, with symptoms such as watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and fever.