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Legionnaires’ disease is thought to be the cause of the pneumonia outbreak that killed four people in Argentina.
To date, 11 cases have been reported, linked to a private clinic in the northwestern city of San Miguel de Tucuman.
The cause has remained a mystery until now, with the new coronavirus ruled out and other tests coming back negative. The World Health Organization said Friday, Monitoring situation.
Symptoms include pneumonia in the lungs, shortness of breath, fever, muscle and abdominal pain.
Argentine health authorities said Saturday that Legionnaires’ disease was the suspected cause. Testing had ruled it out earlier.
Legionella occurs naturally in freshwater environments, but can grow and spread in building water systems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It usually spreads when people breathe in tiny droplets of contaminated air or sometimes from water that contains bacteria.
Health Minister Carla Vizzotti told a news conference that people over 50 with certain medical conditions may be particularly at risk.
Current or former smokers and people with lung problems are also more likely to get sick.
Legionnaires’ disease was discovered and named after an outbreak at the American Legion’s Congress in Philadelphia in 1976.
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