Hospitals of Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Sverdlovsk Region, are currently taking care of 149 people preliminarily diagnosed with legionellosis, head of the regional division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) and the region’s chief sanitary officer Boris Nikonov announced at a press conference on August 7, 2007. 93 people have already been proved to be suffering from pneumonia, and 66 people turned out to have been infected with legionella.

So far, four patients have passed away and one person is critically ill. Statistically, men and people suffering from immune deficiency appear to be more disease-prone; two-thirds of patients currently treated at the local hospitals are male.

Boris Nikonov reports this outbreak of legionellosis has been caused by the water remaining in the water conduits for four extra days, which gave legionella (a bacterium normally present in any natural reservoir) enough time to penetrate the city’s hot water supply system.

Verkhnyaya Pyshma’s hot water facilities are now being disinfected and treated with heat. The hot water supply is expected to be resumed on August 11, 2007