An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the town of Zeszów in southeastern Poland has killed seven people and infected 76 others, Polish health authorities said today.
"A total of seven people, four men and three women have died," the head of the Polish health inspectorate, Krzysztof Szaczka, told Polsat News television.
Legionella is a bacteria that grows in water or in air conditioners and causes serious respiratory problems.
The deceased, aged between 63 and 95, suffered from chronic diseases, mainly cancer and heart disease, and their immune systems were severely weakened, Sachka explained.
Authorities are still looking for the source of the contamination. The first results of tests on water samples will not be known before next Monday.
In anticipation, authorities in Zesuf, a city of about 200.000, are carrying out additional decontamination work.
Legionellosis or Legionnaires' disease is a serious lung infection of bacterial origin. Infection is caused through the respiratory tract, by inhaling the bacterium. The disease is not spread from person to person.
The infection, whose incubation period is two to three days, takes its name from the first known outbreak recorded in 1976 in a hotel in Philadelphia (USA) where a conference of the American Legion, the country's main veterans organization, was being held.
More than 220 participants became ill and 34 died.
Source: RES-EAP