LONDON, Ont. - An air conditioning 'cooling tower' in a London, Ont. neighbourhood is being blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that sickened half-a-dozen people in the area.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) says that after several sources were investigated, inspectors received word that samples from the cooling tower matched the genetics of the bacteria making people sick.
A Legionnaires' disease outbreak had been declared last week after 13 cases of the illness were reported in London and Middlesex County since July.
Six of those people were from one south-central London neighbourhood. All were hospitalized and are recovering from the illness.
Dr. Alex Summers, associate medical officer of health with the MLHU, said in a statement, “We have taken extensive measures to ensure that this equipment no longer poses a threat to human health.”
While the Legionella bacteria can be found in several damp environments, it is most commonly found in air conditioning cooling towers.
Proper cleaning and equipment maintenance are needed to limit the possible growth of the bacteria.
On average, the health unit gets only six reports of Legionnaires' diease a year for the region, so far there have been 15 cases in 2019.
