Liz Watkins goes behind the scenes of the Ops room co-ordinating the search for the outbreak.

EVERY battle campaign needs an operations room and the one to tackle the Legionnaires' disease crisis is at the headquarters of Herefordshire Primary Care Trust at Belmont.

Here people from many different agencies have been working together for nearly two weeks, putting together pieces of a puzzle which might lead them to the source of the potential killer bug.

That was judged the priority task: once found it could be dealt with.

But the outbreak in Hereford has not been easy and it is still not certain that Legionella bacteria at Bulmers' caused the outbreak, although no other source has been found.

The campaign at Belmont has been run by Herefordshire Council's environmental health department, Hereford-shire Primary Care Trust, the Health Protection Agency and Health and Safety Executive.

Extra staff have been called in and the team has been able to seek advice from experts in many parts of the country.

Most work has been collating information and plotting the routes victims took in the days before their illness to find a common factor.

Andrew Tector, head of the council's environmental health department, said: "It was like starting with a blank piece of paper.

"There has never been a lead to one particular building and it is a case of old fashioned detective work, and patience.''

Tracking seems to indicate most victims walked through the central areas of Hereford.

Matched

People in the operations room have had information from the meteorological office about wind trends in Hereford during the relevant period and these are being matched with people's movements.

In the early stages health inspectors worked round the clock checking premises in Hereford and more than 100 samples were sent to London or Birmingham for testing.

Other work was put on hold and, although there has been no let up in the investigation, some are back to normal duties.

Dr Mike Deakin who is the PCT's and the council's director of public health has been heading the team responsible for keeping track of cases, providing information for health authorities, GPs and public.

He is keen to stress that Legionnaires' disease cannot be spread person to person, that Hereford is safe to visit and that if detected early, treatment is very successful.

Not all victims have been admitted to hospital, with some being treated at home by GPs, although a number in hospital were seriously ill.

Dr Deakin said there had been no public panic although NHS Direct had been busier than normal at the start and GPs had reported more patients, although that could be due to other viruses.

But he advised people to stay on their guard and consult their GP if they had concerns.

It could be the end of the month before there is an all-clear - in the meantime the operations room will continue its work.