Legionnaires’ disease is believed to be the cause of a pneumonia epidemic that killed four other people in Argentina.
So far, 11 cases have been reported, connected to a personal fitness clinic in the northwestern town of San Miguel de Tucumán.
The cause had been a mystery until now, as COVID was ruled out and additional tests came back negative. The World Health Organization said Friday it was tracking the situation.
Symptoms pneumonia in the lungs, shortness of breath, fever, and muscle and abdominal pain.
Argentina’s fitness government said Saturday that legionnaires were the suspected cause. Tests in the past ruled it out.
Legionella bacteria are found naturally in freshwater environments, but can grow and spread in building water systems, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA
It is spread when other people inhale small infected droplets into the air or, infrequently, water containing the bacteria.
Health Minister Carla Vizzotti told a news conference that other people over 50 with certain conditions could be at risk.
Current or former smokers and those with lung disorders are also more likely to get sick.
Legionnaires’ disease was discovered and named in 1976 after an outbreak at a Philadelphia conference of the American Legion of Veterans Affairs.