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People who visited Sydney's CBD in the past 10 days are being asked to watch for symptoms of Legionnaires' disease after six individuals were hospitalized.

What is Legionnaires' disease?

  • It's a serious lung infection caused by Legionella bacteria.
  • People get sick by breathing in tiny water droplets contaminated with the bacteria (often from air conditioning cooling towers).
  • It does not spread from person to person.

Why is this happening?

  • The bacteria can grow in cooling towers of large buildings if not properly maintained.
  • Health inspectors are checking towers in the area to find and clean the contaminated source.

Dr. Vicky Sheppeard, director of the Public Health Unit at NSW Health South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, said all six people had spent time in Sydney's CBD during the period when they were likely exposed, ABC AU reported.

NSW Health is now working with the City of Sydney to inspect cooling towers in the area. People who have been in Sydney's CBD in the last 10 days are being asked to watch out for symptoms of Legionnaires' disease, such as fever, chills, cough, and shortness of breath.

Sheppeard explained that symptoms usually appear two to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria. Anyone who was in the CBD during this time and started feeling unwell was encouraged to see a doctor for testing and treatment.

Over 500,000 people work in Sydney's CBD, based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"When we see a cluster of new infections like this, we often find that there's a cooling tower that is contaminated with the bacteria," Sheppeard said. "We're actively taking steps to identify that tower and have it cleaned so other people don't become ill."

Past outbreaks in Melbourne and Sydney highlight serious risks

In a previous outbreak in Melbourne in August, more than 100 people got sick, and two people, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 90s, died. In January 2024, at least seven people were hospitalized due to an outbreak in Sydney.

A month later, three more people were diagnosed after an outbreak near the University of Sydney. Legionnaires' disease isn't spread from person to person, but it has a death rate of around 10%.

Earlier this week, over 5,000 public hospital doctors in New South Wales announced that they were going on strike from Tuesday to Thursday, which meant many patients could have their specialist appointments or elective surgeries cancelled.

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