Legionella in firms' cooling towers

(ANSA) - Milan, September 17 - Legionella, the bug that causes Legionnaire's Disease and some forms of pneumonia, has been in nine of 14 Brescia-area company cooling towers meaning the water supply is safe, Lombardy health chief Giulio Gallera said Monday.
    "The results of the sampling carried out by the Brescia ATS allow us to definitively establish that the cause (of recent pneumonia cases) is not in the water of the aqueducts but rather in the cooling towers of companies," he said.
    "I can reassure all citizens on the fact that they can continue to drink and use the water of the water network in all tranquillity.
    Legionella is a group of bacteria that causes a pneumonia-type illness called Legionnaires' disease and a flu-like illness called Pontiac fever.