It brings the total number of people being treated at
University Hospital of North Staffordshire to nine, all aged between their late
40s and mid 70s.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) is looking into two cases
that were identified earlier in the summer as it is believed they may be
linked.
The HPA also said it had disinfected seven cooling towers in
the area as a precaution.
The agency has been working with the Health and Safety
Executive, the NHS in Stoke and the city council to try to identify and control
any possible sources of the disease.
'Hospital is safe'
Prof Harsh Duggal, director of the Health Protection Unit in
Staffordshire and Shropshire, said: "Early microbiology typing results
back from the HPA laboratories show that samples taken from some of the
patients look very similar so far and this is consistent with the cases having
caught their infection from the same environmental source.
"We are taking detailed histories of the movements of
the patients to see if there are similar patterns which would indicate a local
source of infection.
"It is important to stress that the outbreak is not
hospital related and the hospital is a safe environment for visitors
Officials have said early signs include flu-like symptoms,
with muscle aches, tiredness, headaches, dry cough and fever which can lead to
pneumonia.
Diarrhoea and confusion may occur, as well as chest and
breathing symptoms. The disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics.
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