Italy tourists warned as four die and 12 hospitalised in illness outbreak

People travelling to Italy are being warned about an outbreak of a killer disease which has left four dead. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has highlighted the outbreak, as has the Foreign Office-backed Travel Health Pro website.

In a new update yesterday (August 23) the ECDC said that Legionnaires’ disease has been detected in the metropolitan area of Milan (Corsico and Buccinasco), in Lombardy Region – with 12 people currently in hospital.

As of 19 August 2024, a total of 53 confirmed cases, including four deaths, have been reported. An urgent crackdown is taking place to prevent transmission and emergence of new cases.

Official say that people in the area could be at risk of infection as the source has not yet been traced. 

The ECDC said the cases are between the ages of 26 and 94 years. The four deaths were all over the age of 70 and had other health issues, officials said.

Overall ,12 patients are currently hospitalised, 37 have been discharged, and four cases died. 

A major investigation is taking place to trace the course and the ECDC said: “Epidemiological, microbiological, and environmental investigations continue. Water samples have been collected from several sampling sites of the municipal water supply system, both from the private residence water systems of patients/control cases and from cooling towers.

“The collection of respiratory samples from patients and typing of isolated Legionella strains is ongoing to assist determination of the outbreak source. Public health activities continue to be implemented to prevent transmission and emergence of new cases, including a chemical disinfection with chlorine of the municipal water supply system and of private residences.”

Legionnaires’ disease is caused by inhaling Legionella bacteria in water vapour. People aged over 50 years are more at risk of developing Legionnaires’ disease than younger people, as are those who are immunocompromised or have underlying illness.