A second man succumbs to Legionnaires’ disease in Edinburgh last night, report health officials at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

The 41-year-old man from Gorgie was admitted with severe symptoms of the infectious disease and was among the first patients to require hospital care, according to sources.

Reportedly, the number of people suffering from the pneumonia-like infection has reached 41 while 48 Brits are suspected to have contracted the infection.

Ironically, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health Nicola Sturgeon asserted “the worst of this outbreak is over”, just hours before the news of the latest death broke out.

“My sincere condolences go to the family and friends of the patient who passed away in Edinburgh tonight in a case linked to the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the city. My thoughts are with them at this very difficult time”, Sturgeon said in a statement.

Earlier, 56-year-old builder Robert Air from Seafield became the first victim to what is now considered the second worst Legionnaires pandemic in the UK after the 2002 Barrow-in-Furness outbreak that accounted for seven lives.

The unusually high number of hospitalisation raised suspicion that the condition may have a telling impact on public health. Sources from Edinburgh say 11 patients are still in intensive care whereas 18 people are admitted to general wards.

“Whilst we realised that further deaths were a possibility this additional death is extremely sad and I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of the patient”, Dr Duncan McCormick of the NHS Lothian said.

Doctors countrywide have already requested people to seek immediate medical care at the onset of Legionnaires symptoms that include mild fever, muscle pain and headaches, cough, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Related:
Legionnaires’ disease turns fatal in Edinburgh
NHS failing, diabetes treatment is a ‘postcode lottery’: NAO