New cases in Legionnaires’ disease outbreak near Poland-Ukraine border

On Tuesday, a new case Legionnaires’ disease in the southeast Polandin the region near the border Ukraine. The good news is that when water systems are chlorinated, the spread of the disease slows down.

The latest death was recorded on Friday, bringing to 19 the death toll since the outbreak began in July. A total of 166 people have been infected in the Rzeszow district, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the border.

It is an important transit hub for international military support to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. About 10,000 U.S. troops are stationed in the region.

Health authorities, prosecutors and internal security agencies are still searching for Origin of pulmonary infection in strategically sensitive areas. Experts say it may have come from warm piped water that is rarely used in hot weather.

Most of those who die from the disease are older people who have other health problems such as cancer.Authorities said.

Legionnaires’ disease is a lung infection caused by inhaling infected mist. It is not spread through drinking water.

Generally speaking, Infection in places such as hotels, hospitals, or offices where bacteria enter the water supplyFor example, in air conditioning systems or infrequently used faucets and showers.

Bacteria thrive at temperatures between 20 and 50 degrees Celsius (68-122 degrees Fahrenheit). This disease is treated with antibiotics.

The municipal water company performed a sanitation cleanup of Rzeszow’s plumbing system over the weekend and increased the chlorine dose in the facility in a preventative fashion to try to kill the bacteria.

In other provinces, such as Greater Poland Voivodeship (Western) and Lesser Poland Voivodeship (South), isolated cases have also been reported in recent days, but for now the regional health authorities have assured that this is not an outbreak.

Also known as Legionnaires’ disease, it is a type of pneumonia caused by the bacteria “Legionella”, which reproduces in hot water and can be spread through the plumbing system under favorable conditions, but not from person to person.

“We’re looking at the source of the contamination. We’re looking at the contamination of the hot and cold water supply network,” said district health inspector Adam Siddall.

Authorities in the city of Rzeszow, with about 200,000 inhabitants, carried out disinfection work on the entire sanitation network this weekend.

Legionnaires’ disease, or Legionnaires’ disease, is a serious bacterial lung infection. Inhalation of bacteria, water or air conditioning can cause contamination through the respiratory tract. The disease does not spread from person to person.

The infection, which has an incubation period of two to ten days, gets its name from the first known epidemic, which occurred in a hotel in Philadelphia, USA in 1976 when the American Legion, the main association for veterans in the United States, was in The hotel holds conferences. United States, held country. 34 people died.

(Information via AP, AFP and EFE)