Polish authorities probing deliberate contamination

Poland's counterintelligence agency ABW is investigating whether an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease is due to deliberate contamination of city of Rzeszów's water supply. 

Since mid-August, Rzeszów has been at the center of a Legionnaires’ outbreak with 11 deaths and 144 cases to date. Due to the outbreak further investigation ensued and Legionella bacteria was detected in the city's water supply. Rzeszów is Poland’s main logistics hub for sending military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and a base for U.S. troops.

“The [ABW] investigation aims at excluding any external interference that could have led to the outbreak of the disease," Stanisław Żaryn, deputy coordinator of Polish security services, said in a video posted Friday. As a precautionary measure Rzeszów disinfected the water supply, hoping this will lead to no more new infections. 

Recently cases of Legionnaires’ disease have emerged in other areas, with a single case reported in the Kraków region on Sunday and two confirmed in the town of Ostrów Wielkopolski, some 450 kilometers west of Rzeszów, on Monday.