National Zoo's Kids' Farm Under Quarantine After E. Coli Found

The Kids’ Farm exhibit at the Smithsonian National Zoo has been shut down and placed under quarantine after potentially deadly E. coli bacteria was found on some animals.

In a statement released today, the zoo announced that the animals “are now being managed under quarantine protocols,” and no staff had been affected. The animals also are not showing any symptoms.

There are many kinds of E. coli, most of them harmless, but a pathogenic form of the bacteria called stx 1 gene bacteria was found in the goats during a routine screening of their feces on Feb. 18.

After that discovery, the zoo immediately removed the goats from the barn and began to test the animals individually to find the source on Feb. 22. Officials got the results back on Feb. 26, and found four goats and a cow had tested positive. Kids’ Farm was immediately quarantined, and all animals were treated with antibiotics.

Experts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the D.C. Department of Health have stepped in to help deal with the situation, according to the statement.

Stx 1 wasn’t present in any of the public contact animals when they were last tested in December 2015. The animals may have contracted it from a wild animal, a human or a tainted food source.

The zoo will monitor the animals for the time being, and after three consecutive weeks of negative test results, officials will examine the possibility of lifting the quarantine.

Pathogenic E. coli can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are one of the chief causes of food recalls. It is not normally deadly, but young children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk.