Cooling towers ‘likely’ source of Legionnaires’ outbreak

INVESTIGATORS have found industrial cooling towers are the most “likely” source of the outbreak of Legionella which has so far claimed the lives of two men.

NHS Lothian yesterday issued a statement saying the towers on Wheatfield Road in the south west of Edinburgh are believed to be the source.

Two sites on that street, pharmacuetical manufacturer Mcfarlan Smith and distiller North British, were among six sites tested across the Scottish capital.

The health board also revealed that the most common type of Legionella bacterium, Legionella pneumophila serogroup1, had now been identified as the cause of infection in patients.

The outbreak has infected 93 people to date and two local men have died after contracting Legionnaires’ Disease.