Legionnaires outbreak kills two in Madrid
Experts working round the clock to find source of outbreak
Health experts in Madrid are working against the clock in an effort to identify the source of an outbreak of legionnaires disease, which has so far affected 27 people with two fatalities.
Given that the infectious bacteria thrives in water with a temperature between 25ºC and 45ºC, investigations are concentrating on cooling towers in the Central and Retiro neighborhoods, in particular those located in areas near where the victims live, work or visit regularly. The first case was detected on October 16 in the Gregorio Marañón hospital.
Currently 20 patients are in the hospital with the disease, five of whom are in the ICU. The first to be diagnosed - an elderly man, who was already suffering from serious respiratory illness - passed away. Another man, aged over 90, also died from the disease on Sunday.
