Published Date: 1999-11-14 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/EDR> Legionellosis, trade fair - Belgium: alert
Archive Number: 19991114.2028

LEGIONELLOSIS, TRADE FAIR - BELGIUM: ALERT
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See Also

Legionellosis - Netherlands ex Belgium 990709234405
Legionella advisory, spa - Netherlands 990404230051
Legionellosis, flower show - Netherlands (10) 990421221439
Legionellosis, flower show - Netherlands: background 990317075214
Legionellosis - France 990921225951
Date: Sun 14 Nov 1999
From: Marjorie P. Pollack <pollackmp@mindspring.com>
[1
Source: Reuters Sun 14 Nov 1999 [edited
Three die in outbreak of legionnaires' disease
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Three Belgians who visited a fair near Antwerp have died of Legionnaires'
disease and Belgian and Dutch officials are advising other visitors to seek
immediate medical checks, Belgian media said on Sunday.
They said the outbreak was traced to a trade fair at Kapellen, north of the
port of Antwerp close to the Dutch border. A dozen other people have been
hospitalised with symptoms of the disease.
Radio and news agency reports said the Netherlands Health Ministry was
advising any citizens who visited the fair to see a doctor.
An estimated 60 000 people went to the Kapellen fair between 29 Oct & 6 Nov
1999.
According to the Royal Dutch Institute for Health and the Environment, up to
28 people may have died in the Netherlands of Legionnaires' disease in 1999,
the highest toll in the world since the malady -- a rare form of pneumonia
transmitted by bacteria that can breed in air conditioning systems -- first
came to light in the USA in 1976.
***
[2
Source: AP Sun 14 Nov 1999 [edited
Three people have died in a suspected outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in
the northern Belgian town of Kapellen, local news reports said Sunday.
Another 18 were hospitalized and showing symptoms of the rare
pneumonia-like illness.
Doctors said tests would show Monday [15 Nov 1999 if Legionnaires' disease
was
definitely the cause of the deaths.
The victims were reported to have attended a trade fair in early November
where bathroom fittings, including a working Jacuzzi, were displayed. That
could have created the damp conditions favored by the bacteria believed to
cause the illness.
Legionnaires' disease was first diagnosed in 1976 at a convention of the
American Legion in Pennsylvania, where 220 of the 4000 visitors were
infected and 34 died. Legionnaires' disease bacteria have been found in
soil, air-conditioning ducts, storage tanks and rivers.
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ProMED-mail
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[Note that according to report [2 above, the diagnosis is not yet
confirmed -- but if it is, it is striking that the lessons of the
Netherlands flower show outbreak earlier this year were apparently not
learned by their neigbors in Belgium - Md.JW
........................................................jw

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