Vic: Legionnella bacteria discovered at Melbourne Museum

AAP General News (Australia)
02-10-2001
Vic: Legionnella bacteria discovered at Melbourne Museum

MELBOURNE, Feb 10 AAP - Traces of the deadly legionella bacteria have been found in
cooling towers at the new Melbourne Museum.

The bacteria causes legionnaires' disease, a rare and potentially fatal form of pneumonia.

But the museum's management said it had been advised by the Department of Human Services
that the level of bacteria detected posed no threat to visitors or staff.

No related cases of legionnaires' disease have been reported.

The museum's acting chief executive, Joseph Corponi, said the cooling towers had been
treated following the discovery of the bacteria yesterday.

He added that the museum's testing regime exceeded legislative requirements.

"The air cooling tanks are dosed with the appropriate chemical treatments every fortnight
and tested for the bacteria every month," Mr Corponi said.

The museum had not been required to go public with the news, but preferred to disclose
the findings to ensure people received accurate information and any concerns were addressed.

Meanwhile, a 57-year-old woman remains in intensive care after contracting the disease
during an outbreak at the Age newspaper.

The woman, who works in the newspaper's circulation department, was one of two employees
of the Age confirmed to have contracted the disease last month.

The other, a man who works in production, has since been discharged from hospital.

In April last year Melbourne Aquarium was the scene of Australia's biggest outbreak
of legionnaires' disease, in which two elderly women died.

The illness causes influenza-like symptoms, such as headache, fever, chills, muscle
aches and pains, followed by respiratory problems and pneumonia developing over three
or four days. The disease can take up to 10 days to develop.

Legionella bacteria occurs naturally in the environment, but is also found in man-made
systems such as air conditioning cooling towers.

So far this year, 13 cases of legionnaires' disease have been reported in Victoria.

There were 248 cases in the state last year, including 11 deaths.

AAP bp/sub/jas/sb

KEYWORD: LEGIONELLA

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