August 3, 2011: Still No Definite Source for South Wales Legionella Outbreak

Still no definite source has been identified as the cause of the Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak in South Wales that had 22 confirmed cases and 2 that ended in the deaths of Bev Morgan, 49 and an unidentified 85-year-old man. 

Due to the investigation several premises were instructed to carry out emergency cleaning in order to prevent the disease from infecting anywhere else. 

The outbreak in late August and September last year was identified as being made up of two clusters, six cases in the upper Rhymney Valley and a further six cases in the Cynon Valley, as well as 10 cases that were isolated or part of mini clusters. 

At the beginning of the investigation 38 registered premises with cooling towers/evaporative condensers within the outbreak area were targeted. The investigation was extended to over 200 other industrial and commercial premises to identify other systems that could be at risk. 

In total 56 samples from 20 premises were taken and four of those results came back positive for legionella. Three of these premises were shutdown for precautionary measures. Of the three that closed down two were located close to the upper Rhymney Valley cluster and one in Cynon Valley. The fourth premise was located between the clusters but more geographically distant than the other three. 

According to Dr. Gwen Lowe, chair of the Outbreak Control Team, it is important for people to register their cooling towers so the team knows where they are and are able to investigate those towers. 

Many theories have formed as to why there were so many cases of Legionnaire’s Disease in a small geographical area. One theory is that awareness led to additional testing and found cases that normally would not have been found. Another theory is that the cause was due to the climate conditions in the area. 

The Outbreak Control Team has put in many hours to track down possible sources of the outbreak and are hopeful they will not see a repeat of this in the future. 

To learn more please visit Wales Online