Hunt for killer disease source

Public health officials are trying to find the source of an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease which has claimed two lives over the past five weeks.

Herefordshire Primary Care Trust said two other people struck down by the bug were receiving hospital treatment.

Officials are concentrating their search for the disease on Hereford, where all four cases were reported.

According to the trust, Herefordshire's average share of Legionnaires' should be around one case every two years, given that there are around 200 reported cases in England and Wales each year.

Doctors around the county have been alerted to the outbreak and a temporary hotline has been set up by NHS Direct to deal with questions from the public on 01785 231011.

Legionnaires' is usually traced to air-conditioning and water cooling systems.

It is contracted by breathing in water droplets from a contaminated source. It cannot be transmitted from one person to another.

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