The mystery is lifted.
Legionella bacteria are the cause of pneumonia that has killed four people since the start of the week in Tucuman, in northwestern Argentina, and which puzzled the local medical community, the Minister of Health announced on Saturday. Health, Carla Vizzotti.
The agent that caused the outbreak of bilateral pneumonia "is legionella", declared the minister at a press conference in Tucuman, adding that the precise type of legionella is in the process of being qualified.
Four people have died since Monday, and a total of eleven cases have been identified, centered around a private clinic in Tucuman.
Seven people still under treatment
A total of 11 people showed similar symptoms, and seven are still undergoing treatment, according to the ministry.
Of the ten cases originally recorded, eight were health care workers at the same private clinic.
Samples sent for analysis revealed cases of "Legionellosis", a serious lung infection caused by a bacterium called Legionella, local daily La Gaceta reported on Saturday, citing sources at the Malbran Institute in Buenos Aires.
Covid, flu, type A and B influenza, and hantavirus (transmitted by rodents) in particular had already been ruled out.
The provincial Minister of Health had put forward the hypothesis of an infectious agent on Wednesday, but specified that “toxic or environmental causes” were not excluded.
