Edinburgh Legionella outbreak claims 100th victim

The Legionella outbreak has claimed its 100th victim, the Scottish Government revealed.

Health experts said this was the first new case for a week and believe the worst of the outbreak is over.

Three men with Legionnaires’ Disease have already died and two people remain in intensive care.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “The latest case of Legionnaires’ has been ill for some time, and has now been identified as a confirmed case.

“Over recent days as expected, we have not seen as many cases of Legionnaires’ as we did at the peak of the outbreak, and this continues to offer reassurance that the outbreak remains under control.

A total of 52 people are confirmed as having the disease and 48 are suspected to have the bug.

The outbreak began in Edinburgh at the end of May and investigations to locate the source of the disease are on-going.

Health and safety experts still believe the outbreak began in an industrial cooling tower in the south west of the city but experts have warned the exact source of the bug might never traced.

A number of victims have already started legal proceedings to find out how the disease was able to get into the air and why more was not down to prevent the outbreak.

Some have revealed they will seek compensation for their ill-health if and when a company is found to have been responsible for the potentially fatal disease.

All three men who have died were all from the Edinburgh area and health experts said they had underlying health conditions.

Dr Richard Othieno, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, NHS Lothian, said: “While this is the first new case in more than a week, it is not unexpected.

“As the outbreak draws to a close we can expect to see a small number of cases coming forward who have experienced mild symptoms initially and have sought medical attention later in their illness.”