Legionnaires Disease in Southern Spain
 

(With apologies for any cut & paste formatting errors): <BR> <BR>Associated, Press, Monday July 9 4:12 PM ET <BR> <BR>Legionnaires' Cases in Spain Grow <BR> <BR>MURCIA, Spain (AP) - One person is suspected to have died of Legionnaires' disease and 71 people have been diagnosed with the illness in this southeastern Spanish city, the regional government said Monday. <BR> <BR>The outbreak probably began Friday or Saturday, Dr. Lorenzo Cruz of Virgen de la Resaca Hospital told Spanish National Radio. <BR> <BR>In addition to those diagnosed with Legionnaires, a form of pneumonia, 139 others have pneumonia-like symptoms, said Francisco Marques, health councilor for the region. <BR> <BR>Doctors are conducting tests to see if a 65-year-old patient with pneumonia who died Sunday night had the disease, Marques said. <BR> <BR>Those believed infected are mainly residents of two neighborhoods of Murcia, a city about 250 miles southeast of Madrid. Health officials are testing water towers to try to determine the source of the infection. <BR> <BR>The bacterium that causes Legionnaires is typically spread when contaminated water is released into the air through air conditioners, steam or other means. It is named for an outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia 1976 in which 34 people died. <BR> <BR>Symptoms include headache followed by high fever, shortness of breath and abdominal pain. The disease is most common in the elderly or in those with weak immune systems. <BR>

Does anyone know what can be done to contain this, or could it spread to other parts of the country?

Clean your airconditioners; remove any pools of standing water near intake vents, air ducts and HVAC machinery. <BR> <BR>This isn't like hoof and mouth or the bubonic plague.

Legionella.p is found living in water and thus spreads through commercial air conditioning and water ...
www.factbites.com/topics/Legionnaire's-disease
Stay away from big commercial hotels odds are great
you will be fine.Big commercial hotels do not clean their HVAC
most common cause.Myprayers go out to the suffering.

Legionnaires' disease is a bacterial infection which typically causes pneumonia but may also involve other organ systems. The disease is usually transmitted by airborne droplets from contaminated water sources, such as cooling towers, air conditioners, whirlpools, and showers. Cases may occur sporadically or in outbreaks linked to specific locations, such as hotels or other public facilities. Small outbreaks have been reported from cruise ships, sometimes associated with onboard whirlpool spas. Legionnaires' disease is not transmitted from person to person.

The incubation period ranges from two to ten days. Symptoms may include fever, cough, chest pain, difficulty breathing, headache, muscle pains, and diarrhea. Numerous complications have been reported, including kidney failure, liver failure, respiratory failure, muscle inflammation (rhabdomyolysis), abnormal bleeding (disseminated intravascular coagulation), and death. Legionnaires' disease may be treated with either azithromycin or a quinolone antibiotic, such as ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin. There is no vaccine.

The European Working Group on Legionella Infections monitors cases of Legionnaires' disease in returning travelers in order to identify hotels, resorts, and other accommodations where Legionella outbreaks may be occurring.

mdtravelhealth.com

This is a post from 2001 for heavens sake!

Please also note WWII is over and Franco is still dead.

Yes but no-one's got a "Franco: his life" website to promote.

This bit of archaeology wasn't disinterred by a fool, but by someone with a commercial interest in fomenting paranoia.