Another two cases of Legionnaires’ disease linked to Sydney CBD outbreak, bringing total number of cases to five

A further two people with Legionnaires’ disease have been linked to the Sydney CBD outbreak, NSW Health has confirmed, bringing the total number of cases to five.

A man in his fifties and a man in his forties, currently receiving treatment for the disease, were in the CBD at a similar time to the first three cases.

The original cases include a man in his 80s and two women aged in their 30s.

One has been discharged from hospital, another is stable and the third, understood to be one of the women, is still in a critical condition.

Environmental health teams have now inspected all 89 cooling towers in the area. Five have tested positive to legionella.

“Preliminary results indicate that five cooling towers have tested positive to Legionella.  Contaminated cooling towers are a common source of Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks but they can often be contaminated without ever causing disease,” NSW Health Communicable Diseases Branch director Vicky Sheppeard said.

“Further testing on these towers is being undertaken to determine whether or not one or more of these towers may be the source of the recent outbreak.

“NSW Health and the City of Sydney have ensured appropriate regulatory action on these towers is underway, including orders requiring cleaning and disinfection.”

Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia caused by a bacterial infection that can develop in people after they inhale contaminated water vapour or dust.