A three-year-old girl has died in a Melbourne hospital after contracting haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a rare and potentially life-threatening condition, following visits to a petting farm for birthday parties. She spent six weeks in intensive care at Monash Children's Hospital, suffering permanent kidney and brain damage before her death, which her devastated family confirmed via an online fundraiser. A second toddler, a two-year-old boy, was also hospitalised with the same illness after visiting the farm and has since made a full recovery, though he required 17 days of dialysis and two blood transfusions.

HUS can be triggered by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), bacteria carried in animals' gastrointestinal tracts that can spread to humans through contact with contaminated faeces, causing symptoms such as bloody diarrhoea and vomiting. Victoria has recorded more than 160 STEC infections so far this year, a rise health officials attribute partly to improved testing and reporting. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by the unnamed farm, though Victoria's Department of Health has advised it to add handwashing stations and display infection risk warnings, while the boy's mother has called for petting farms to improve hygiene information for visitors.