A BORDERS nursery has been cleared to reopen after a team investigating a probable E. Coli O157 outbreak was stood down.

More than 100 people – including babies, children and adults who could have been exposed to the infection – were sampled during the Cherrytrees nursery investigation.

And NHS Borders said there was “insufficient evidence to link cases and therefore no outbreak has been confirmed”.

Chris Allan, consultant in public health and chair of the incident management team, said: “Thanks to the co-operation of the manager and staff of Cherrytrees nursery and everyone involved in the management of the incident, we are pleased to have been able to rule out an outbreak in this situation.

“E. Coli O157 can be fatal so the focus of the team was to limit the spread of infection in order to prevent serious harm as far as is possible. We recognise that the operational implications for the nursery were disruptive, and are pleased that the nursery is now open again as staff have been cleared to return to work.

“I would like to reiterate that environmental health colleagues visited the nursery last week and were very satisfied with practices in the nursery.

“There are still a small number of samples outstanding, so if you have provided samples and have yet to hear from us, a member of NHS Borders’ health protection team will be in touch with you directly as soon as your results are available. Once they are clear you will be provided with a clearance letter.

“We would like to thank everyone affected by this situation for their co-operation in helping us contain the spread of infection.”