Britain's worst outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in a decade killed a fourth person last night, a woman aged over 70, public health officials said.
An 88-year-old man and two women in their fifties have also died since the outbreak - traced to a 30-year-old air conditioning system at a local arts centre - began nearly three weeks ago.
There have also been 125 confirmed cases of the pneumonia-like illness, with more than 60 people in hospital, said officials at Morecambe Bay hospital in Cumbria, northwest England.
Legionnaires' disease - first discovered at an American Legion convention in July 1976 where 29 people died - causes high fever, dry cough, lung congestion and subsequent pneumonia.
It is commonly spread through contaminated air conditioners and ventilators and is treated with antibiotics.
AFP