“This work is in progress, all entities and authorities are working to identify the outbreak (…). The identification of the place will certainly be done in its own time ”, he said. A source from the Regional Health Administration told Lusa that the outbreak of legionella in Vila do Conde, Póvoa de Varzim and Matosinhos caused 14 deaths.

The same source said that the disease was diagnosed in 89 people, but no one is currently hospitalised. The health authorities detected the presence of legionella, on 10 November, in the cooling towers of the Longa Vida Distribution Center, in Perafita, municipality of Matosinhos (Porto).

In a statement dated 20 November, Longa Vida management said that the company "has not received information about the correlation between the presence of this bacterium" in the cooling towers and the origin of the outbreak that hit the north of the country.

The Public Ministry has already announced the opening of an investigation to investigate the causes of the outbreak. Legionnaire's disease, caused by the bacteria 'Legionella Pneumophila', contracts by inhaling contaminated water vapor droplets (aerosols) so small that they transport the bacteria to the lungs, depositing it in the pulmonary alveoli.