DUBAI // Bacteria that can cause deadly legionnaires' disease are present in the water supply of some homes, experts say.
More than a third of the samples, obtained from households where people have suffered unexplained health complaints as well as dental clinics, which are required to test regularly, proved positive for Legionella pneumophila.
The bacterium is dormant during the cool winter months, but thrives in temperatures above 25°C, making it a hazard during the summer.
Although often associated with air-conditioning systems, the bug can thrive in water, including roof tanks, taps, pipes and showers.
The flu-like disease is caught by inhaling droplets of infected water. It can be fatal, although it is usually not dangerous to healthy people.
Dr Ulrich Wernery, the scientific director of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, said of 147 water samples it had tested in a six-year period from 2004, 53 were positive.
Only three of the 21 samples tested so far this year have been positive, but that number is expected to rise as the weather gets warmer.
Two of the positive samples were sent by Homeinspections, a Dubai company which specialises in decontaminating water and air-conditioning systems.
Joe Coleman, the owner of Homeinspections, said his team discovered the bacteria in two properties. One is a high-rise building in Dubai Marina the other was a villa in Al Barsha.
There are eight types of Legionella bacteria, although only one, L.pneumophila, causes disease in people. Mr Coleman said temperatures between 25°C and 35°C were "the optimum conditions" for the bacteria to multiply.
This month, his company decontaminated the water system of a three-bedroom villa in Al Barsha.
The tenant told The National that the incident had caused strain between him and his landlord. "It is a new compound of 12 villas and we have been living there for over a year," said the tenant, who did not want to be named.
The tenant decided to test the water as he was concerned that some form of bacterial contamination could be the cause of asthma-like symptoms suffered by one of his children.
"The tests came out highly positive for L.pneumophila in the water," he said, although no link had been established between the child's ill health and the contamination. The tenant paid the Dh4,800 (US$1,300) clean-up bill as his landlord denied responsibility.
However, the tenant suspects that the problem could have started as the villa was being completed. "I know they [contractors] do not clean up properly on handover," he said.
He suspects the contamination could have started from the water tank on the roof of the building.
Dr Eivind Linge, a general practitioner at the Scandinavian Dental Clinic, said the fact that water tanks were on roofs, and thus exposed to heat, "is a very big health hazard".
The clinic, like other dental offices in Dubai, tested its water and was monitored by Dubai Municipality, he said.
The Emirates' desert climate makes it harder to control bacterial contamination in summer, with complicated procedures required.
"Now in the summer, we shock-chlorinate our water system once every month," said Dr Linge.
But he was quick to point out that the prevalence of L.pneumophila and other bacteria would not immediately translate into large numbers of people getting sick.
The number of positives is not dramatically out of line with previous findings elsewhere. A 1980s study of hot-tap water systems in Chicago found that 30 per cent were contaminated, while a German study put the figure at 28 per cent.
Dr Tasmeen Khan, a family doctor at The City Hospital in Dubai, said she was not aware of any increased illnesses caused by the bacteria.
Any patients with a form of pneumonia which did not behave in the "normal manner" would be tested for the bacteria, she said.
"It is impossible to say what the prevalence or incidence is because it is not a reportable disease, we do not report to the Ministry of Health as we do other diseases," she said.
"Of course, it is something I consider with cases of pneumonia but no more than I have done when I worked in the United States."
Dr Khan said it was likely that the elderly and those with depleted immune systems were more vulnerable, but no more so than they would be to other bacteria.
"People do not need to go out and test their water systems. You have no way of knowing if you are going to get it, you could be exposed every day and be fine," she said.
Redha Salman, the director of the public health and safety department of Dubai Municipality, said it monitored hotels and dental clinics for Legionella contamination.
In addition, municipality inspectors make surprise spot checks, with around 50 samples being tested per month. He was not willing to say how many of these samples are contaminated.
The same checks, however, are not made on residential buildings. "At the moment, we are implementing it at high-risk areas," said Mr Salman.
Only buildings where proper maintenance was an issue were at risk, he said. "Dubai is known for buildings that are well-maintained," said Mr Salman.
Both Mr Coleman and Dr Linge said there was little consistency on maintenance standards and scheduling.
"The developer might be paying but the companies cost-cut," said Mr Coleman. "We need to get some form of consistency of cleaning services."
Dr Linge said clear guidelines on how facilities should be designed and maintained would help to reduce any health risk.
"You look around Dubai and Sharjah and you will find many clinics that do not have the capacity to comply with these things at all," Dr Linge said. "It would be interesting to check the quality of the water in these places."
@Email:vtodorova@thenational.ae
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Race card:
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m
7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m
10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
Ferrari
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Rock in a Hard Place: Music and Mayhem in the Middle East
Orlando Crowcroft
Zed Books
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
