Cheesemaker at centre of E.coli outbreak that left one dead blames deadly new variant

The boss of a cheesemakers at the centre of a deadly E.coli outbreak says it was caused by a new variant of the disease. Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire Cheese, a dairy farm near Preston, Lancs, is thought to be the suspected epicentre of Shiga toxin-producing E.coli, a rare variant of the bug.

One person has died after eating E.coli tainted cheese. A recent surge in cases of the bug has been linked to a batch of artisanal cheese sold in Waitrose, and also included in a Christmas hamper.

The dairy farm's boss Graham Kirkham today said the E.coli outbreak is actually from a 'new strain' and that most people are oblivious to this variant's existence. While confirming that eight of the inviduals who were struck down by the bacteria had eaten cheese from his company, he told the MailOnline he feels his company 'seem to have taken the brunt of it'.

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"We feel we have been hung out to dry a bit," he said. "We are devastated but we don't think we are linked to any kids being ill.

"We are part of a bigger investigation and we need to know we are clear and we have stopped any more cheeses going out. We have the first set of results back and we are negative so that's a good.

"But now we need to do further testing on the farm. However it is all slowed down because of the time of year."

Earlier today, it emerged that one person had died and another 11 were in hospital from food poisoning after eating the E.coli-tainted cheese. The UK Health Security Agency said there are 'at least 30 confirmed cases of this specific