The Ebola scare has been replaced with widespread concern bordering on panic as victims have started to die from the worst outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease ever recorded in Portugal.
The Director-General of Health, Francisco George, said today that there have been five fatalities related to Legionnaires' disease. By mid afternoon today 233 cases have been reported and 38 patients are in intensive care units.
Francisco George said that the cases are mostly in the Lisbon area but cases have been reported from the central region and two in the north.
"All reported cases have an epidemiologic link to the outbreak in Vila Franca da Xira," according to the health department.
In the space of 24 hours four people were reported to have died from the airborne Legionella bacteria and another was suspected of having died from it.
The number of people arriving in casualty departments complaining of symptoms is rising exponentially.
Last Friday, 33 patients were hospitalised; by Saturday the number had risen to 90 and on Sunday 160-180 were affected.
As swimming pools and refrigeration towers of factories in the area were shut down, the Director General of Health said the outbreak could now be at its peak.
Francisco George commented that, “From the first day to the next, the number of people affected tripled, then on the third day they doubled. What I am trying to say is that we could be near the peak of this process.”
Francisco George also tried unsuccessfully to dampen any rising panic by saying that “there are thousands of people exposed to this risk, but only a few will get sick.”
As Director-General of Health gave his unconvincing report, prevention measures were going ahead with chlorine levels being boosted in mains water supplies and lab analysis continuing to try and identify from where the bacteria first eminated.
"This is the biggest Legionnaire's outbreak in Portugal and is considered a major public health emergency," WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier adding that the outbreak was "unusual and unexpected."
Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva has expressed his condolences to the victims. He said the public should trust the health authority.
