- Second person dies from Legionnaires’ disease
- Victoria faces worst outbreak in 20 years
A man has become the second resident to die from Legionnaires’ disease in Melbourne as Victoria grapples with its worst outbreak in 20 years.
The man, aged in his 60s, contracted the disease on July 27 before dying in hospital on Sunday.
Her death comes after a woman in her 90s died last Tuesday.
Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Clare Looker said the situation appeared to be stabilising.
“We’ve definitely seen a slowdown in the rate at which notifications are coming in and definitely a clustering of those symptoms and occurrences from those earlier dates,” she said. Herald of the Sun.
“We hope we are seeing the end of things.”
The number of confirmed or suspected cases currently stands at 77.
Authorities are still desperately searching for the source of the “unusual” outbreak of the disease in the west of the city.
A man has become the second resident to die from Legionnaires’ disease in Melbourne as Victoria faces its worst outbreak in 20 years (file image)
Elizabeth Hartland, director of the Hudson Institute for Medical Research, said the next few days would be crucial.
“It’s a very significant outbreak for Australia, with this number of people,” he said.
More to come.
