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A toddler is likely to need a kidney transplant after contracting E.coli on a family holiday to Dorset.

Three-year-old Joseph Fincham-Dukes, along with sister, one-year-old Poppy, fell seriously ill after contacting the 055 strain of the bacterial disease. 

Joseph was left in intensive care for two weeks due to kidney failure after suffering from gastric illness, and it is likely the damage was so severe he will need a kidney transplant.

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Three-year-old Joseph Fincham-Dukes suffered kidney failure after contracting E.coli on a holiday in Dorset

Eighteen people are believed to have contracted the illness in the Dorset area between July and November last year. 

Ten were confirmed in the Blandford area, with others reported in Portland, Bournemouth and Poole. 

The Fincham-Dukes were visiting family in Portland and have instructed lawyers to investigate how the two young children contracted E.coli.

Joseph's father Neil, said: 'It was absolutely heart-breaking and terrifying to see Joseph in intensive care and then going through dialysis every day. Thankfully, he is now in a stable condition but the whole situation has been very scary for us all.

An outbreak of E.coli in Dorset, that is believed to have started in June last year, is still being investigated by Public Health England 

'We have been told that he is not suffering from neurological problems, but experts are unsure how this illness will affect him in the long-term. 

'We are extremely upset and angry that his condition was not diagnosed earlier and that GPs were apparently not informed of an outbreak of E. coli and the symptoms to look out for.

'We want to know how this could have happened and we have approached lawyers because we heard that other children in the area were ill with similar symptoms. 

'I hope that they can find out what caused our children's' illnesses so that lessons can be learned and no one else has to suffer as my children have done.'

E. coli O55 is a rare strain of the bacteria which can have very serious consequences. Joseph's symptoms began in early November 2014 and he suffered with diarrhoea and sickness. 

He visited his doctor on two occasions, but unfortunately his condition worsened and he suffered a number of seizures and became disorientated.

He was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). He spent two weeks in intensive care and required daily dialysis for a number of weeks due to the severity of his symptoms. 

He is still receiving dialysis three times a week and his treating doctors have confirmed that he is likely to need a kidney transplant in the future because of the severity of the damage to his kidneys.

Now Joseph's father Neil, 31, from Bath has instructed public health lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate why his son and daughter contracted the disease which ruined their trip away.

Tonia Kingsley, a solicitor and expert public health lawyer at Irwin Mitchell said: 'The illness described to us by our clients is particularly concerning and it illustrates the serious consequences E.coli can have on vulnerable people, particularly children.

'Sadly, many of our clients have suffered long-term and often permanent health problems arising from their initial infections including kidney damage and severe neurological injury. We hope that Joseph, Poppy and everyone else affected by this outbreak make a complete and swift recovery. 

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'We will be obtaining detailed expert medical evidence to identify the extent of any long-term health issues that there may be for our clients and to pinpoint the risks of any future complications which may affect their health and quality of life.

'The seriousness of severe gastric illness should never be underestimated and it is vital that authorities work quickly and thoroughly to determine the cause of the outbreak in Dorset and establish if there is a wider problem in the way illness outbreaks are controlled, as this follows other UK-wide outbreaks of bacterial illness in recent months.'

'As we conduct our investigations we ask anyone who has also suffered gastric illness, which could be related to the recently reported outbreak in Dorset, to contact with to assist us with our enquiries on behalf of Joseph and Poppy.'

Public Health England (PHE) and local environmental health officials are investigating the outbreak in a bid to find the cause.

A spokesperson for PHE told MailOnline Travel: 'The investigation is ongoing and although we haven't had any reported cases of E.coli since November, every effort is being made to discover the cause.

'We have conducted enhanced screening in Dorset, but we have yet to find a real link concerning all the cases, apart from that they are all from Dorset.

'It's a multi-agency team that deals with outbreak control, from the PHE to food hygiene standards, and the work is ongoing.'