Legionnaire's disease has struck 36 people in northern England in what media reports have described as Britain's worst outbreak of the bacterial infection in a decade.
Twelve of those infected in the town of Barrow-in-Furness are being treated in the intensive care department of the hospital where an 89-year-old man died of the disease on Friday, a spokesman said. Four of those in intensive care are giving doctors "cause for concern" after developing lung or kidney complications as a result of the disease.
There are a further 23 suspected cases under investigation at Furness hospital bringing the total of confirmed and suspected cases to 59.
Three further children were suspected of having the infection, which is caught by inhaling bacteria-infected water vapour and causes coughing and a high fever, but were later released unaffected.
Hospital officials said they expected that the number of patients receiving treatment would double in the next two weeks. Legionnaire's disease was first detected at a convention of US war veterans in 1976 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when 30 members of the American Legion died.
It is spread by water-borne bacteria which thrive best in water at 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) and spread quickly in hot water and air conditioning systems.
Local authorities have closed a community centre in the town centre after the air conditioning system was found to be expelling steam and possibly transmitting the bacteria.
Tests are being carried out to confirm the bacteria's presence. "Looking at the maintenance and servicing of the plant, it identifies the fact that for a long time the environmental health side of things has tended not to be as strong as it should be," regional public health director John Ashton told a press conference.
"It is a fairly open secret that over the past 20 years or so, environmental health has had a shortage of resources," he added. "It is a fairly big outbreak, but I am fairly confident we will have this sorted out in the near future."
While people inside the building are thought to be safe, authorities said they were concerned that the steam may have expelled the bacteria into the streets outside.
"If the source is a leisure centre, there will be lots of people coming and going, lots of people infected," said disease specialist Nigel Calvert.
A spokesman for Britain's Public Service Health Laboratory said: "Clearly this is a very significant outbreak. Nobody is disputing that. But when the largest known outbreak was 800 cases in Spain last year, it should be put into perspective."
AFP