LEGIONNAIRE’s DISEASE; Inquest to Probe Fatal Outbreak

By THOMAS, Kim

The deaths of three Cantabrians from legionnaire’s disease will be the subject of a joint coroner’s inquest next week.

The inquest will seek to uncover the source of the 2005 legionella outbreak that claimed the lives of three people and infected at least 19 others.

Ross Hern, 56, Peter Jones, 48, and Valmai Finlayson, 87, died in Christchurch Hospital in June, July and August 2005 respectively as a result of the disease.

Southland-Central Otago coroner Trevor Savage said the two-day inquest into the three deaths would cover possible causes and sources of the outbreak.

It would also look at recommendations for legislative change from the Christchurch City Council and the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) medical officer of health, so future cases could be detected more quickly, he said.

Doctors who treated the three victims, an Environmental Science and Research scientist and the Canterbury medical officer of health will present evidence at the inquest.

In August 2005, after the three deaths, a team led by CDHB medical health officer Alistair Humphrey re- interviewed victims of the 2005 outbreak to retrace their movements leading up to their becoming ill.

The Press revealed the same strain of bacteria that caused the city’s legionnaire’s disease outbreak was found in two locations at the School of Medicine at Christchurch Hospital.

Tap water from the sink at the hospital’s Medici Cafe tested positive for the same strain — legionella pneumophilia serogroup 1 – - that killed Jones, Hern and Finlayson. The strain was also picked up in a hose in a restricted area of the building.

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