Legionnaires' cases total hits 50 (From Kingston Guardian)

Legionnaires' cases total hits 50

7:27pm Monday 2nd July 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

The number of confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease following a deadly outbreak has reached 50, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

The total was reached after another person contracted the bug. The number of suspected cases has also risen by one to 48, according to the figures.

Two men with the disease have died since the start of the outbreak on May 23 in Edinburgh.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "The latest cases of Legionnaires' have been ill for some days and have only recently been identified.

"Case numbers continue to be very substantially below the level we saw at the peak of the outbreak.

"NHS Lothian are maintaining high-quality care for patients who remain unwell, and HSE (Health and Safety Executive) and Edinburgh Council continue work to identify and deal with the source of the outbreak."

The latest confirmed patient is being treated outside the NHS Lothian board area, along with nine other patients.

Three patients remain in intensive care and ten are being treated in general wards. The others are being treated in the community or have been discharged from hospital.

HSE officials and Edinburgh City Council continue to investigate the possible source of the outbreak, thought to centre on a cluster of cooling towers in Wheatfield Road in the south-west of the capital.