A health centre in Vila Real de Santo António has had its plumbing stripped out and replaced after legionella had been detected more than once.
A routine analysis on August 12 showed that legionella, the cause of the often fatal Legionnaire’s disease, again was lurking in the old pipework.
Nobody had been taken ill but the Regional Health Administration for the Algarve decided to replace the entire plumbing system as a precaution.
"We found Legionella in the facility so closed it and immediately started to rectify the situation.
“There was no impact in terms of public health," explained the president of ARS Algarve, João Moura dos Reis.
Legionella had been detected at the end of December 2015 in the ageing plumbing system and was solved at that time by replacing those pipes that had been affected.
This time the Health Authority decided to strip out and replace the lot as a permanent solution.
