CBS reports that children roaming about petting zoos, surrounded by animals, are now a thing of the past at state fairs across the nation fair organizers and visitors fear E. coli outbreaks.
Some, like the North Carolina State Fair, are adopting new regulations, such as keeping a fence between visitors and animals and installing many handwashing stations.
Others, such as the Texas State Fair, has cancelled their petting zoo altogether.
Insurance companies are also turning down handling policy requests of fairs that have petting zoos, or increasing costs dramatically.
However, Texas is planning to follow North Carolina’s lead since there have been no reports of E. coli outbreaks since the installation of the new regulations.