A man has died and six other people remain hospitalized, two of them in the ICU, due to legionella in the city of Cáceres, in whose ornamental and supply fountains the water is being analyzed to determine the origin of the presence of the bacteria.
Sources from the Extremadura Health Service (SES) have reported that, in addition to the 86-year-old deceased, there are five men and one woman who are admitted to the San Pedro de Alcántara Hospital.
These six people are between the ages of 55 and 85, and two of them, two 65-year-old men, remain in the intensive care unit (ICU).
SES sources have explained that the Cáceres Health Directorate and the General Directorate of Public Health work in coordination and have initiated the corresponding epidemiological investigation regarding this legionella infection.
“We are already working, not only on fountains that serve as a drinking water supply but also on those ornamental fountains” in the city, said its mayor, Rafael Mateos, who pointed out that legionella has a low risk of contagion. It is very unlikely to get infected by drinking water since it is transmitted through the air, and that is how the SES transfers it to us.
Mateos has stressed in this regard that “the problems are usually in the aerosols and that is where controls will have to be increased.”
The epidemiological study will determine “the origin of the possible cases to find out if there is any connection between them and if there is a specific focus”, added the mayor.
Last week, the water controls that the city council carried out in a preventive manner against this bacterium led to the sealing of eight fountains in the city. “Some of the sources that tested positive last week have already been disinfected and shock treatments have been carried out,” he said.
However, analyzes have been carried out again to determine if they have been disinfected one hundred percent or to know if disinfection work has to be carried out again.
In addition, the water concession company in Cáceres -Canal de Isabel II- as well as the company in charge of parks and gardens -Tahler-, also work on the analysis of water from irrigation systems.
