Trips to Phuket cancelled following disease fear

Many tour companies overseas have cancelled their outbound trips to Phuket out of concerns about the Legionnaire's disease.

"Warnings have been sent to about 37 European countries that four foreign tourists came down with the disease after staying at a Phuket hotel," Deputy Phuket Governor Worapoj Rattasema Wednesday said at a workshop on how to prevent the disease outbreak.

According to Phuket Gazette, the infected foreign tourists were in Phuket in November but it is still unknown if the tourists were staying at the hotel at the time of their exposure.

The Legionnaire's disease occurs when persons have breathed mists that come from a water source contaminated with Legionella pneumophila.

In its most common form, the disease presents itself between two and 10 days after exposure.

The Nation