Legionnaire’s town makes slow recovery

The Dutch village of Bovenkarspel used to pride itself for hosting the world’s largest indoor bulb show. For 65 years the Westfriese Flora has heralded the start of the Dutch flower season, but this year, the village and the show have become synonymous with the Legionnaire’s bacterium and the death and disease it causes.

This February, as normal, the last of the 80,000 visitors left, the halls were cleaned out and Wim Boon, the vice chairman of the organizers, planned a week’s rest. Other Flora members went on a holiday abroad. “But then this happened. Every day of the first week, journalists came looking for answers. I do understand though. It’s big news. It’s a disaster”, Boon says.

Story for Reuters.