Legionella traced to Post building by CS

14 July 2006

AMSTERDAM — The source of the Legionella outbreak in Amsterdam which has left one elderly man dead and made over 20 others ill is most likely a cooling tower at the old Post building beside Central Station.

The Post CS building on the Oosterdokskade is the temporary home for the Stedelijk Museum. The cooling tower next to it was shut down earlier this week as a precaution.

The capital’s health service GGD said suspicions centred on the building because two people connected to it had been infected with Legionella, the bacteria that can cause Legionnaire’s disease. One of them is employed at the temporary Stedelijk museum and the other is a construction worker helping to build the new library beside it.

Shopping Center Management (SCM), manager of the Post CS building, expressed regret on Thursday evening that it was the likely cause of the outbreak. SCM said it would do everything in its power to find out how the bacteria were able to develop.

Human infection occurs after a person has inhaled mists that come from a water source contaminated with Legionella. Potential sources of contaminated water include cooling towers, air conditioning systems and domestic hot water systems. The bacteria can also develop in freshwater ponds and creeks.

It cannot be transferred from person to person and drinking water does not pose a risk.

Subject: Dutch news