Legionnaires' disease kills one and leaves 20 ill

A man has died from Legionnaires' disease following an outbreak on an industrial estate. The 45-year-old victim, from Corby, Northamptonshire, who died on Friday, is one of 21 people who have fallen ill with the disease. The first case was in August when 14 people contracted the illness. Seven more cases were reported in December. Health officials discovered all the victims had a link with the adjacent Willowbrook and Weldon industrial estates in the town.

The disease is contracted by breathing in water droplets containing the bacteria which produces flu-like symptoms. It has an incubation period of up to 10 days and can cause a pneumonia-type illness and multiple organ failure. There have been no reported cases in Corby since January.