NHS Tayside has ruled out water contamination as the cause of a stomach bug outbreak at a Highland Perthshire kids adventure park.
Dalguise Activity Centre, near Dunkeld, decided to temporarily close after a number of school children and staff fell ill last week.
Planned school visits were also cancelled, with many who did attend being sent home early.
The centre has voluntarily closed for seven days as a precautionary measure and is due to reopen in the coming days.
NHS Tayside has been looking into the incident with Perth and Kinross Council.
An updated NHS statement read: “NHS Tayside Health Protection Team and environmental health officers from Perth and Kinross Council are investigating a number of cases of suspected viral gastroenteritis at an activity centre in Perthshire.
"NHS Tayside and Perth and Kinross Council have worked closely with staff at the facility.
"Appropriate advice has been provided to the people affected and no one is seriously ill.
"The centre has voluntarily closed for seven days as a precautionary measure and is due to reopen later this week.
"There are no concerns around contamination to the water supply on site.
"Bottled water has been provided as a precaution to avoid any potential spread of infection through contact with communal taps.
"Outdoor water activities were suspended by the operators as a precaution and these will now be reinstated.”
According to the NHS, gastroenteritis is a common condition that causes diarrhoea and vomiting and is usually caused by a bacterial or viral tummy bug.
Perth and Kinross Council confirmed that planned visits by pupils from local schools have been scrapped as a result.
A spokesperson said: “We’re not aware of any pupils from our schools attending PGL Dalguise in recent weeks and falling ill, however a very small number of school trips to the centre were cancelled as a result of it being closed due to the current situation.”
Staff and pupils from Fife, Stonehaven and Aberdeen are reported to have been affected by the illness outbreak.
The centre is run by PGL Travel, which takes its name from its founder in the 1950s, Peter Gordon Lawrence.
In response to the outbreak, a company spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have recently experienced some instances of sickness amongst some of our guests and staff.
“In a meeting with Public Health Scotland and Environmental Health, it was presented the most likely source of this occurring are children bringing an infection with them, rather than any site-based source or our colleagues.
“This corresponds with the rising figures from Public Health Scotland in relation to norovirus.
“To ensure we continue to put the safety, health and well-being of our guests and team as our number one priority, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily close our centre until Friday, May 26.
“We have not taken this decision lightly, nor is it one that we have been asked to take by local health officials, but we do believe that it is the correct course of action at this time.
“We realise this will be hugely disappointing to the schools and children due to travel.
“To ensure we do all we can to still provide the PGL residential experience, we are looking to reschedule trips, offering a full refund or offering free places in our kids camps.”
According to NHS Tayside, gastroenteritis is “particularly common” in young children and most cases in children are caused by a virus called rotavirus. Cases in adults are usually caused by norovirus (the ‘winter vomiting bug’) or bacterial food poisoning, but it usually clears up by itself within a week.
