Locals cross fingers as legionella strikes again

Health officials say the outbreak of legionella bacteria in a coastal part of Manukau City appears to be subsiding, despite confirming a third person has contracted the disease.

Auckland Regional Public Health Service confirmed yesterday that a 52-year-old woman was the third person to be stricken with legionnaire's disease in the small town of Beachlands.

The woman lived on a street adjacent to Karaka Rd, where the other two confirmed cases - an 80-year-old man, who died last month, and a 40-year-old man - lived.

But service manager William Rainger said there were signs the spread of the bacteria was in decline.

"There have been no further suspected cases in the last 10 days."

He said the woman was recovering at home. Officials are waiting for the results of samples from her domestic water supply.

The woman was one of three people the service was monitoring; another has been cleared of having the disease, and test results are yet to come back for the third.

The service has asked all residents to treat their supply - which is roof-collected rain water - and clean their tanks as the best defence against an outbreak.

The scare in Beachlands comes after an outbreak in Christchurch last year that infected 19 people, killing three.

A woman living in Karaka St close to the homes of the two confirmed cases said her family were crossing their fingers and hoping to stay healthy.

"It's a little unnerving. We've got one person [confirmed with the disease] on either side of us," said the woman, who did not want to be named.

"I figure if we were contaminated we would have already come down with something by now. We don't really have a spare $2000 to clean the tank and refill the water supply."

Concerned residents at a public meeting last week were told the health service had the resources to test the water tanks of only nine households.

Manukau City Council had offered $48,000 to test about 200 of the community's 1000 households.

The service says it is still working with the council and looking at doing more tests.

About 20 people in Auckland are infected with legionnaire's disease every year.