Legionnaires' outbreak 'over', says Health Protection Agency

An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in which two people died has been declared over.

The Health Protection Agency said 21 other people were taken ill during the outbreak in Stoke-on-Trent, thought to have been caused by a hot tub on display at a warehouse in the Fenton area of the city.

One of two patients who remain in hospital is due to be discharged and the other has been transferred from critical care to a ward, a spokesman for the agency said.

"It is now 25 days since the probable source was decommissioned and health experts no longer expect to see cases associated with this outbreak," the spokesman said.

"Officers from Stoke-on-Trent City Council will be continuing their investigation with a view to possible enforcement action and also to provide the coroner with any information he may require for his inquest."

The declared end of the outbreak comes a day after around 40 people who caught Legionnaires' disease earlier this year called for a public inquiry into the outbreaks in both Stoke and Edinburgh.

More than 100 people caught the lung disease during the outbreak in Scotland, in which three people died.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell, representing people affected in both cities, said recommendations set out to prevent such outbreaks occurring "failed" and called for a public inquiry to investigate what went wrong.

PA