Legionnaires' disease from garden compost!!

[Sweetpea]

Gardeners were yesterday warned about the dangers of handling compost after a grandfather caught a rare form of Legionnaires' disease that left him fighting for his life.

Retired gas engineer Drew Murphy, 59, was struck down with legionella longbeachae just days after opening a bag of fertiliser in his garden.
He later collapsed with a fever and diarrhoea and spent seven weeks in intensive care on a ventilator. At one point, his condition deteriorated so severely that doctors feared he might not survive.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1021542/How-catch-deadly-legionnaires-disease-garden-compost.html


So which is it, the compost or the fertiliser?

Either way, one for your site Pop's.

Maybe he chewed his fingernails once too often.

If it was compost, it may have had manure in it, sometimes they use chicken shit. I put it down to personal hygene after handling the stuff.

[easyg]

Originally Posted by churchill

Maybe he chewed his fingernails once too often.

If it was compost, it may have had manure in it, sometimes they use chicken shit. I put it down to personal hygene after handling the stuff.

A little off thread here. Years ago, my Uncle worked for the "Welcome Foundation" Now Smith Kline Glaxo. In Dartford Kent. He told us a story of one worker, who had worked there for 25 years, handling toxic chemicals, suddenly dropped down dead. After the postmortem, it was revealed that he had enough cyanide in his system to kill a herd of elephants.
Apparently, he always used protective gloves when handling said chemicals, but every time he took them off he removed them with his teeth, therefore imbibing a small amount of cyanide every time, until his body could take no more.

Ok Ok I thought it was interesting.

[Sweetpea]

It was. Bit of a dimwit if you ask me.