Public health officials in London, Ont., say one person has died and more than 40 have become sick in an outbreak of legionnaires’ disease.

The Middlesex-London Health Unit says most of the 43 cases were reported over the last week and are within six kilometres of each other in the southeast side of the city.

Legionnaires’ disease is a serious respiratory illness caused by legionella bacteria that can lead to pneumonia, with symptoms that may include high fever and chills.

The health unit says the bacteria is naturally found in water sources such as water tanks and cooling towers and it’s working to identify the source of the current outbreak.

A similar outbreak of the disease last year in London infected 30 people and led to two deaths.

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The health unit is reminding all business owners and property managers to regularly maintain and clean their cooling equipment to prevent future outbreaks.

Public Health Ontario says most cases of legionellosis in the province occur between June and September, with July typically seeing the highest case counts.

It says legionella bacteria are “ubiquitous” in the environment and most cases in Ontario are “sporadic and not linked to an identified outbreak.”