Update on the barge

Following news reports earlier today about the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Public Health Dorset issued the following reassurance message to the local community:

Environmental samples from the water system on the Bibby Stockholm have shown levels of legionella bacteria which require further investigation. Following these results, the Home Office has been working closely with UKHSA and following its advice in line with long established public health processes, and ensuring all protocol from Dorset Council’s Environmental Health team and Dorset NHS is adhered to.

As a precautionary measure, asylum seekers who arrived on the vessel this week are being disembarked while further assessments are undertaken. No individuals on board have presented with symptoms of Legionnaires’.

The samples taken relate only to the water system on the vessel itself, not the fresh water entering the vessel, therefore there is no risk for the wider community of Portland.

Legionnaires’ disease does not spread from person to person and can only be contracted from contaminated water, usually when it is inhaled in aerosol form.

More information about Legionnaires’ disease is available online: www.nhs.uk/conditions/legionnaires-disease/

The Home Office issued the following statement:

“The health and welfare of individuals on the vessel is our utmost priority.

“Environmental samples from the water system on the Bibby Stockholm have shown levels of legionella bacteria which require further investigation.

“Following these results, the Home Office has been working closely with UKHSA and following its advice in line with long established public health processes, and ensuring all protocol from Dorset Council’s Environmental Health team and Dorset NHS is adhered to.

“As a precautionary measure, all 39 asylum seekers who arrived on the vessel this week are being disembarked while further assessments are undertaken.

“No individuals on board have presented with symptoms of Legionnaires’, and asylum seekers are being provided with appropriate advice and support.

“The samples taken relate only to the water system on the vessel itself and therefore carry no direct risk indication for the wider community of Portland nor do they relate to fresh water entering the vessel. Legionnaires’ disease does not spread from person to person.”

ENDS