Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak Linked to Cooling Towers in Downtown Sydney
A total of five patients have been confirmed as having the disease in this outbreak by NSW Health.
A Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Sydney, Australia, is being investigated by local health authorities. Five water cooling towers in the central business district of Sydney have tested positive for legionella as local health authorities announced two more people have contracted Legionnaires' disease, Sydney Morning Herald Health Editor Kate Aubusson reported May 11.
Her report said a total of five patients have been confirmed as having the disease in this outbreak by NSW Health; they are men in their 40s and 50s who were in the area at a similar time as were the first three patients.
The health agency reported May 5 that environmental health teams had inspected and tested 58 cooling towers in the area as of that date. Legionnaires' disease case reporting peaks in the summer and fall months, according to the agency, and case reports have been reasonably stable in the past five years with 70-100 cases reported.