Heathrow denies Legionnaires link
The airport management says passengers are perfectly safe
Heathrow Airport has said no link has been found between a case of Legionnaires’ disease and the airport.
A 26-year-old worker was treated in intensive care since being diagnosed more than two weeks ago.
A spokeswoman for Heathrow said precautions had been taken with the help of the Health Protection Agency, and the airport was “as safe as ever”.
Legionnaires’ disease is a rare form of pneumonia often spread through air conditioning systems.
It has not yet been established where the man, an unnamed employee of logistics firm Wilson James who was working in Terminal Three at the time, caught the disease.
The airport denies reports that the man had been working on the demolition of a water cooler.
‘Precautionary measures’
The worker’s home water supply as well as the airport’s have been tested since, and his recent movements are being reconstructed in an effort to identify the source of the infection.
But the airport, run by operator BAA, is paramount there is no health risk for passengers’ travelling through the hub.
“We have taken precautionary measures, it’s a construction area that has no public access, no throughway for members of the travelling public,” a spokeswoman said.
“The disease is not contagious and there is no link between this case and the workplace – we are confident that Heathrow is as safe as ever.”
She added that the water supply around the area where the man was working has since been chlorinated.
No other cases had emerged since the man came down with the disease, and the airport was confident that was an isolated episode.
A spokeswoman for Wilson James confirmed the case had been investigated and they had received “no indication at all” the disease might have been contracted at Heathrow Airport.
“All our information at this time has confirmed that this is a single isolated case,” she said.
She added that the unnamed employee is still in hospital but “has picked up considerably”.
“It looks like he’s going to make a full recovery,” she added.
Legionnaires’ disease starts with symptoms similar to those of a flu, such as headaches, fever and loss of appetite.
The disease, which is spread through water droplets from air conditioning systems containing the legionella bacteria, affects some 300 cases a year in the UK.
It is potentially deadly but can be treated with antibiotics.
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October 9, 2004 at 6:16 pm