Three cases of legionnaires' disease in Melbourne are believed to be linked by contaminated cooling towers.
Three men aged in their 60s contracted the disease in the Gladstone Park area between April 20 and April 26 and two are in intensive care.
All three visited similar areas before they became ill, including the Airport West and Gladstone Park shopping centre, Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said on Friday.
The Department of Health and Human Services is working to confirm whether the cases are linked to contaminated cooling towers in the suburb, with nine systems tested in the area on Friday.
People can become infected with legionnaires' disease after breathing in contaminated droplets of water, and those aged over 50, who smoke, drink or who have conditions such as diabetes and chronic lung disease are particularly vulnerable.
Dr Sutton urged anyone with flu-like symptoms to visit their GP.
"My message to people who have visited the Gladstone Park area between mid-April and earlier this week and who may be suffering from pneumonia or flu-like symptoms is to visit their GP," he said.
There have been 34 confirmed cases of legionnaires' disease in Victoria since the start of 2018, with the department already testing 70 cooling towers in the CBD.
There were 67 cases in 2017, an increase on previous years when there were generally between 40 and 50 cases.
