AN OUTBREAK OF Legionnaire’s Disease at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles may have originated in a hot tub in the fabled hotspot, it has emerged.

123 people came down with symptoms including vomiting and fever after attending a party at the Los Angeles party haven, triggering a two-month investigation into conditions at the venue.

The Los Angeles health department, it has now emerged, have identified a particular tub in the building as a possible source of the infections, with a water sample taken from it showing signs of the legionella bacterium.

Authorities were keen to stress, however, that the presence of the bacteria in the tub may not necessarily guarantee that it was the original source of the infection.

69 people feel ill on the night of the event itself, while investigators used Twitter and Facebook to make contact with 439 attendees before identifying that over 50 more attendees later displayed flu-like symptoms.

Three of the attendees, it has also been confirmed, tested positive for the H1N1 virus that causes swine flu. Up to 200 of them had shown signs of fever – most likely the milder Pontiac Fever, which is also caused by the legionella bacteria.

The partygoers had been attending a closing-night party after a three-day conference for internet investors.