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.
Comments
These weirdos who keep muddying the waters. By insisting that Portugal is a country ... not, as most of us now know it to be - a loose affiliation of 'Bandit Barons'. Grouped into Concelho's. Unchanged since the 1200's.
Locked in a time warp that Capt. James T Kirk would need at least a 1hour programme to sort out.
Having also passed the industrial site several times over the years that she mentions - we need someone from Sines to report back on which are the petro chemical plants that emit the brown cloud that blights the sea front.
Then send in the specialists to shut them down until new clean technolgy is installed..
Oh and it looks like Adubos de Portugal is one of the main suspects for the Bhopal type gassing of locals.
Back to you ... Yoofie !
It is not caused by chemicals or corrupt bureaucrats.
Many diseases may be, but not this one.
Something we have tried and so you can too. Ask some old boy or girl in any municipal who owns the land on which their industrial estate sits ? If more than one - the one built since joining the EU.
The municipal ? Then ask who owned it before it was built upon. Usually being told the then President (Municipal or Frequesia) or some other 'biggie'.
Then ask who owned the land before them. This is the interesting bit. We usually turn up several names of 'no-body's' - who were pressured into selling their at the time non-development land for peanuts.
Those in the know already well aware that funds for developing industrial estates were coming soon. The elite land then re-zoned for industrial development and now much more valuable sold on for development.
Now - are you going to complain - if you are a local and well aware that some very important local people were involved with setting up and running your industrial estate ?
But this was never a one off tank venting and clear out before implementing a new process. It would have been routine - hence the wind direction indicator seen on TV. Staff told - Only release the gases when fumes will (hopefully) go out to sea. So no-one knows what we are doing.
Will we now finally hear of repeated complaints by locals over the years of suspicious clouds of smoke and fumes coming from this industrial estate?
And maybe other industrial estates nationwide ...? Difficulty breathing, high asthma rates, clothes dried outdoors smelling odd and plants dying ?
Complaints ignored or belittled by the regulators and inspectors ?
Go past any industrial plant in Portugal and see for yourself ! Sines petro-chemical works is a classic example of non-regulation. With a regular brown cloud stretching along the horizon. Ever hopeful that it is not blown back on-shore.