Killer bug forces police from building

By MARTIN JOHNSTON and ALAN PERROTT

A flare-up of legionnaires disease among police has forced the evacuation of a contaminated Otahuhu building used by more than 200 police staff.

The potentially fatal bacterial disease, a form of pneumonia, has caused problems at the building, Harlech House, since 2000.

Senior Detective Maurice Whitham has been a policeman for 34 years but is now in the process of retiring while he is still recovering from the disease he contracted in 2000.

He was disappointed with how long it took to convince his chiefs he had the disease and the time it has taken to abandon the building.

"What's frustrated me more than anything was being told I probably didn't have (legionnaires) and even if I did it certainly wasn't from the building," he said.

"If this was a homicide I'd have already locked the offender up. My issue was that I didn't want other people getting sick. It's pretty debilitating to say the least."

He said some officers accused him of faking illness despite him having to be driven home from work when he was too exhausted to drive.

"That's not helpful when you're trying to get well. After a while you begin to doubt your own sanity."

He is further angered that a policewoman also suspected of having legionnaires was last week told by a doctor she probably contracted the disease at a supermarket.

Mr Whitham suspected the reluctance to evacuate was caused by financial constraints, but said police will probably now face the added burden of paying for the medical costs of those affected.

Police Association vice-president Richard Middleton said yesterday after meeting senior police staff that they had agreed to shift all employees out by Monday to enable thorough disinfection of any affected areas.

A new air-conditioning system would also be installed.

The staff will be shifted to various buildings all over Auckland.

"We applaud the decision," he said. Six cases of the disease had been confirmed in those who worked in the building, two of them just this week, Mr Middleton said.

Two of the six hit by the disease were no longer employed by the police and the other four, including the two most-recent cases, did not now work in Harlech House.

It was possible there were more cases that simply had not been diagnosed yet, he said.

Asked if the police had done enough to address the problem, he said: "In the initial stages no, but in the last two months they have done everything they can."

Cleaning work had been done on the air-conditioning system, but had clearly not been sufficient, he said.

"It's bigger than everyone thought. Following the dousing of the building we've had further positive tests in the building, the latest of which was in February this year."

Police media liaison officer Angeline Barlow said the presence of legionella bacteria had been confirmed in an air-conditioning cooling tower and in a bathroom shower head.

Three people had contracted legionnaires disease, she said. Asked about Mr Middleton's assertion that that figure was six, she said: "Those haven't been confirmed."

Police Superintendent Ted Cox said the decision was made to move because medical staff from Auckland University could not offer an absolute reassurance that Harlech House was a safe environment to work.

Mr Cox said the building could pose a risk to staff and the public.

A working party involving Auckland University medical school, OSH, public health officers and others has been looking at the health of Harlech House.

ESR said about 50 cases of legionnaires disease were reported each year. Three deaths from it were reported last year, and two in 2001.

The symptoms of the disease, caused by the legionella pneumophila bacterium, can include headache, diarrhoea, dry cough, drowsiness and delirium. It is treated with antibiotics.

Younger people generally recover fully, but a substantial proportion of elderly, unfit patients die from the illness.

The police bought Harlech House, a former Inland Revenue Department base, for $8.5 million.