Nine children at a Northern Ireland nursery school have been struck down with a potentially life-threatening E.coli bacterial infection.
Tests had been carried out on pupils and staff at the school following the confirmation of one case last week.
The Laura's Lodge Day Nursery in Antrim closed last week following the first case.
The Northern Health and Social Services Board said tonight that following further tests, nine pupils had been confirmed to have the E.coli 0157 infection.
E.coli O157 can cause a range of symptoms from mild diarrhoea to a more severe illness . It is easily transmitted within groups of young children.
Dr Michael Devine, consultant in communicable disease control at the board, said the cause of the infection had not yet been established, but added that itwas often passed on from cattle.
About 15 per cent of cattle are thought to carry the infection in their gut.
Dr Devine said: "All children and staff attending the nursery are being screened for the infection. The day nursery has closed voluntarily while investigations are ongoing."
He urged all parents to seek immediate medical advice if their child developed diarrhoea.
It could become a "serious infection" which, while he did not wish to cause undue alarm, was "potentially life-threatening and must be taken very seriously".
Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to the E.coli O157 strain.
The number of cases in the UK has tripled in recent years, jumping from 361 in 1991 to more than 1,000 in 1997.
PA