EFFORTS are being made to trace more than 200 people who stayed at a Scottish leisure resort visited by a victim of Legionnaire's disease shortly before his death.

Legionella bacteria have been found in a shower head and hot tub in a lodge at Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort near Dundee.

The holiday lodges, swimming and spa facilities have been closed while staff from NHS Tayside contact those guests who stayed at the resort between April 2 and April 15 and any others who used the shower facilities.

Around 50 letters have been sent out to the lead members of parties which stayed at Piperdam, where lodges cost between £660 and £2100 a week during peak season and more than £3000 over the New Year holiday.

The 60-year-old guest infected with Legionnaires' disease died in hospital in Norfolk on Friday. Although he had stayed at Piperdam, it is understood he never used the swimming or spa facilities.

Phil Mulholland, owner of the resort, said: "The health and safety of our guests is absolutely paramount at Piperdam and we are co-operating fully with NHS Tayside health protection team as well as Angus Council's environmental health team in all areas of the investigation currently ongoing at Piperdam."

A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said the resort owner was working closely with environmental health officers.

Sir Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, said that while the disease had to be taken seriously, the risk of contracting it was low.

He stressed that it could not be passed from person to person. He said: "It has quite a measurable mortality rate; around 5% to 10% of those who contract it die from it.

"But it is treatable with antibiotics, so it's important that anybody with any sort of health problems after staying at the resort should seek medical advice.

"It can be quite difficult to diagnose in many people because it is like severe pneumonia, but right now doctors will be more aware that it is a possibility, which helps a lot.

"In Scotland, this has not been particularly common, and quite a lot of our cases have come from people staying abroad."

Last month, Crieff Hydro Hotel was named as a possible source of the Legionnaires' outbreak which led to the death of John Adrain, 63, the former deputy head teacher at Greenwood Academy in Irvine, Ayrshire, who died in hospital in February.

Inspections of the hotel's water systems following Mr Adrain's death found minute traces of the same strain of legionella in a shower head.

Legionnaires' disease is caught by inhaling infected water droplets and the incubation period for the disease ranges from two to 10 days.

The NHS helpline for those who have visited Piperdam and have concerns is 0800 02 82 816.