As the world’s press picks up on Portugal’s ongoing “major public health emergency”, investigators trying to establish the focus of the outbreak are concentrating on three factories: ADP Fertilizantes, Solvay and Centralcer.
All three have proved positive for the presence of the legionella bacteria in their refrigeration towers, though the greatest concentration is understood to have been found at ADP – better known locally as Adubos de Portugal.
As prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho made a statement to say the Portuguese state was in no way to blame for the outbreak, government sources confirmed that the perpetrators, once identified, face prosecution for “crimes against the environment”, which could involve prison sentences of up to eight years and fines of around €2.5 million.
Meantime, Quercus reports that it has long received complaints from residents in the area about “air quality, noise from the factories and basic sanitation”.
In the space of 24 hours four people were reported dead – with another death from the deadly bacteria later confirmed, followed by a sixth fatality on Tuesday – while the number of people flooding casualty departments rose exponentially.
On Friday last week, 33 were hospitalised, on Saturday that number had risen to 90 and on Sunday papers were variously reporting numbers of 160-180 affected. By Monday, that number had reached 278
