Canterbury District Health Board and Christchurch City Council officials are working with representatives from the air conditioning industry to contact businesses in an industrial area in Hillsborough to ensure water-based cooling systems are being properly maintained.
This is in response to a small cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases in the area. Since the beginning of April, laboratory testing has confirmed that six adults have been hospitalised by the bacteria Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1. Possible sources for this type of Legionnaires’ disease include cooling towers and evaporative condensers.
Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Ramon Pink is urging businesses in the area to sample and treat their cooling towers and evaporative condensers.
“The Legionella bacteria can live in water-based cooling systems, and can become dangerous when airborne. Businesses with these systems need to regularly sample and, where necessary, treat them to prevent the bacteria from circulating,” says Dr Pink.
On 8 April a contaminated cooling tower was identified and treated. It is possible that this cooling tower was the source of all four cases notified in April. Two more cases were identified during May, indicating there maybe another source.
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