Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Over 120 Spaniards Infected with Legionnaires' Disease
The outbreak of Legionaires' disease in Matara, Catalonia, Monday produced three new cases to increase the number of infected people to 124 in this European country, sanitary authorities said.
The outbreak of Legionaires' disease in Matara, Catalonia, Monday produced three new cases to increase the number of infected people to 124 in this European country, sanitary authorities said.
Up to now in Matara alone, 104 persons have been infected with the Legionella pneumophila bacterium that produces a lobar pneumonia. An 83-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man have been killed.
Last Friday, sanitary authorities decided to close the Cortes and Graena municipal tourist attraction in southern Granada, Andalucia, after finding a Legionaires' disease case there. It will remain closed for 15 days.
Legionella pneumophila lives in water and infects the respiratory system as well as other organs, including liver, kidney and brain. Its symptoms are similar to flu.