5:00pm UK, Friday November 21, 2003

Health officials investigating a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires' disease have pinpointed its source as a cooling tower at a cider-making plant.

The type of legionella found at the H.P. Bulmer site in Hereford is said to be "scientifically consistent" with samples taken from patients.

180 legionnaires testing Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Testing for the disease

The outbreak, which has claimed the life of a man in his 70s, struck down 24 people, nine of whom remain in hospital.

Andy Tector, Head of Environmental Health and Trading Standards at Herefordshire Council, said exhaustive testing and re-testing of air conditioning units and cooling towers in the city had paid off.

He added they had also charted the movements of victims.

"We have all spent many hours plotting these movements in detail and we've also taken into account data such as wind speed and direction," said Mr Tector.

"The findings of this exercise, to map movements, support the test result and points to Bulmer's as being the source of the outbreak."

Dr Mike Deakin, Herefordshire's Director of Public Health, said: "These results support our belief that the source of the outbreak in Hereford has been identified and eradicated."

However, he cautioned that further cases would not be unexpected due to the incubation period of legionella.