A deadly disease outbreak that has claimed the lives of two Australians could be nearing its end, with authorities confident they have located the source of the dramatic health scare. Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Clare Looker, speaking at a press conference on Monday afternoon, said the likely source of the legionnaires outbreak that has hit metropolitan Melbourne since early July had been located, with a cooling tower in the Laverton North suburb returning a positive result for legionella bacteria. “I can confirm one of the towers we tested and which was subsequently disinfected earlier in our investigation has returned a positive legionella sample,” she said.
“This gives us increasing confidence that we have identified and already treated the source of this outbreak.” Legionnaires’ disease is spread by breathing in fine droplets of water that contain legionella bacteria. It can cause a chest infection with symptoms of fever, chills, cough, headache and muscle aches and pains, Dr Looker said in an earlier update.
Other atypical symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and confusion. Large-scale airconditioning systems can spread the disease. It is not commonly spread from person-to-person or by drinking contaminated water.
Some 75 people have been hospitalised with legionnaires from mid July, Dr Looker confirmed. A man in his 60s and a woman in her 90s died after contracting the illness. Dr Looker, who received the positive result on Sunday night, expr.