Report: Legionella found in over half of tourist facilities evaluated in Balearic Islands

Surveillance of Legionella in tourist facilities of a major European holiday destination found the pneumonia-causing bacteria present in over half of the evaluated areas.

A study published by the medical journal Eurosurveillance found that the bacteria had contaminated over 65% of all tourist facilities evaluated in the Balearic Islands, Spain.

A total of 465 tourist facilities, including hotels, apartments and agritourism resorts located in the Balearic Islands were surveyed over two different periods: from 10 January 2006 to 21 October 2010 and from 12 January 2015 to 27 December 2018.

The contamination found in the Spanish islands is similar to what has been reported in studies conducted in Hungary, Greece and the Netherlands, but remarkably higher than rates reported in studies performed in, for example, Croatia. (...)