A FURTHER seven cases of potentially deadly legionnaires' disease are now under investigation after five cases have been confirmed in Wollongong.

The fifth person was identified as it was revealed three airconditioning towers in Wollongong's CBD registered positive to legionella bacteria less than a week ago.

A 61-year-old Wollongong man, who started showing symptoms of the disease on February 4, is being treated at Wollongong hospital.

Four other men aged 35, 57, 75 and 84 were infected between December 30, 2004 and January 25 this year.
Seven other patients are under investigation after visiting their GPs or hospital emergency departments with pneumonia-like symptoms.

The earlier victims had visited Wollongong CBD before falling ill to the disease, which is contracted through breathing contaminated air in airconditioning cooling towers or bacteria in potting mix.

The highest legionella reading was at the IMB Arcade cooling towers in Smith St, Wollongong.
The council building in Burelli St and Investment House on Smith St also clocked up legionella readings.

Doctor of infectious diseases and immunology at Sydney University, Ray Kearney, said health authorities were dealing with a "significant incidence well above average".

He said there was a potential link between all 12 cases and the contaminated airconditioning units.
"I can't say categorically that the airconditioning with the bacteria in them are the source, but where there's contamination of water the risk is very much there," he said.

South Eastern Sydney/Illawarra Health yesterday issued a statement saying the source of the outbreak was too difficult to pinpoint.

"The only thing we can say is that based on our advice from council, with regard to the cleaning of those towers that had tested as positive, there is no evidence of any ongoing risk," a SESIHS spokeswoman said.
 
Dr Kearney said local councils needed to be more vigilant with policing air conditioning systems.

The Illawarra area had the world's third largest outbreak of the disease in 1987, which resulted in 13 deaths and 53 cases of legionnaires' disease. 

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