Public Health England (PHE) has insisted there is no danger to the public after several cases of tuberculosis were discovered at two factories in Chatteris.
The government body said 17 workers from two factories in the Chatteris area of Fenland had been diagnosed with TB since January 2012 but had received treatment and were no longer infectious.
Ian Smith, managing director at fresh produce supplier and packer Erms UK, said two employees had been diagnosed with the illness, and that PHE had been called in according to the company’s health and safety protocols. Both now have a clean bill of health and have returned to work, he added.
“We have thorough procedures in place because we are a fresh produce business,” he told FPJ. “We’ve been extremely comprehensive, we took it to PHE first and we’ve been working closely with them. We have very tight protocols and rigorous procedures on site, and I hope the fact we went straight to PHE and didn’t try to sweep it under the carpet is recognised.”
Beyond the two directly employed staff, Smith said he knew of an employee falling ill from another organisation that rents an office on site, and another from a labour provider.
Smith criticised local UKIP leader Paul Bullen, who was quoted saying he had heard TB was “endemic” at the plants. Bullen’s statements were “alarmist” and “inaccurate”, he stressed, adding that TB could be contracted by any employee at any company in a public space, making it almost impossible to prevent.
Erms UK is to hold another meeting with PHE next week as part of the process of addressing the situation, Smith said. “We’ve added a couple of protocols to our already tight systems,” he explained. “My advice to any organisation is to engage fully with public health authorities in any situation like this.”
TB is best identified by screening and then promptly treated with antibiotics.
Public health officials said there was no cause for alarm or any risk to the public from the case. Dr Giri Shankar, consultant in communicable disease control at PHE’s Anglia and Essex Centre, said: “Although an infectious disease, TB is not easily spread unless you have had close prolonged contact with an infected individual. As many of the employees at the affected factories work within close proximity of each other for long periods and travel to work together, we are following up on close contacts of cases and will also be carrying out screening.
“This is a routine procedure and the best way to identify cases early and stop any further spread of the infection. There is no evidence to suggest TB transmission can occur from consumption of vegetables from the factories.”
Posters and leaflets with general TB advice have been displayed in the affected factories and TB factsheets have been circulated with staff payslips, PHE added.
As no companies were initially identified in media reports, many of the vegetable firms operating in the area were wrongly assumed to have been involved.
“Produce World Group wishes to make it clear that Produce World Chatteris is not one of the plants concerned,” said a spokesman for the company. “The Produce World Group has robust and clear sickness reporting procedures in place to deal with any illness among its staff.”
A spokesman from Chatteris root vegetable grower Alan Bartlett & Sons also said no cases had been discovered at its facilities.
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