Disease

Portugal: Legionnaire’s disease outbreak

An outbreak of the bacterial infection, Legionnaire’s disease, has sickened more than a hundred (120) and killed four people in the central Portuguese region of Vila Franca de Xira, a municipality in the Lisbon District.

Many of the cases are being treated in Lisbon.

The Portuguese authorities are seeking out the source of the outbreak. Samples have been taken from the area’s drinking water supply and disinfection of water tanks has been ordered. The Secretary of State for Health has warned the population to avoid taking showers or using Jacuzzis or hot-tubs until the source of the infection has been identified.

Legionnaires’ disease gained national notoriety in 1976 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered it during an epidemic of pneumonia among American legion members at a convention in Philadelphia.