Sky News reports that once the cases became known, guests were moved to a nearby hotel. Though in preliminary findings there were no traces of legionella found, the hotel’s plumbing underwent a sanitation process after guests vacated. It is yet to be determined whether more hotel guests have been affected. Updates will be posted as soon as they become available.

For more information, please reference the site below:

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16161194

In 2010, within a four-week period, eight people contracted the disease after passing directly through the lobby – the location of the water fountain- at the Aurora St. Luke South Shore Hospital in Cudahy, Wisconsin. None of them had been admitted at the time of exposure – three were outpatients, three were picking up medication at the hospital pharmacy, one was a delivery man, and one man was waiting to pick up his wife. All eight possessed preexisting medical conditions or other factors that increased their risks of contracting Legionnaire’s disease.

The disease spread through inhalation contact with the contaminated water. According to Thomas Haupt, a respiratory disease epidemiologist for the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and the lead author of the study, a sampling of a 3-inch by 4-inch piece of foam from the fountain was found to have more than 1 million bacteria.

When the fountain was first suspected as a potential source of the outbreak, the water wall was shut down and turned into a planter. Several other Wisconsin hospitals also shut down or removed  their decorative water walls. All eight patients have since recovered, and no additional cases were reported after the fountain was closed.

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Sources:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/hospital-fountain-linked-to-legionnaires-outbreak/2012/01/10/gIQAyLwEpP_story.html

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/11/145056854/study-links-hospital-water-wall-legionnaires-disease

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/hospital-fountain-linked-disease-outbreak-wisconsin/story?id=15339838

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/outbreak-of-legionnaires-disease-traced-to-hospital-fountain-1.3445365

The VI Department of Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control to coordinate disinfection of the hotels’ water systems; a consultant has also been retained to oversee cleaning and treatment.

The health department also set a deadline for the resorts to notify guests of the risk of exposure to legionella, which was apparently not met.  A statement issued by the resort did not address guest notification, and a general manager contacted by the Virgin Islands Daily News declined to comment.

Testing was performed by the CDC from October 18 to 22, and on November 3, the VI Department of Health relayed the test results to the hotels and instructed management to enact a comprehensive water treatment plan that includes superheating and chlorination.  Test results so far apparently do not indicate a presence of legionella bacteria in the hotels’ water systems, but the CDC has yet to review these results, according to the article.

The health department alerted the public of the ongoing remediation efforts this past Monday, December 12, 2011.

“Major renovation” was completed at the resort during the summer of 2011.  Some experts have suggested a link between recent construction or renovation work and the propagation of legionella bacteria in new plumbing systems.

Updates of this potential outbreak will be made when they are available.

The question remains, however, why the hotel did not have an effective plan in the first place, one which could have prevented the legionella infection amongst several guests of the hotel.  If the hotel did already have a plan in place, then why did it fail?  If there was no plan – why not?

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Source:

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20111201/NEWS01/112010350

Health officials conducted tests on the water and confirmed that the man was exposed to the same type of bacteria found in the water.  They also discovered that the levels of legionella bacteria in the water were about 18,000 times more than the limit set by prefectural regulations.  As a result, the government closed the hotel for four days, beginning November 25, 2011, citing its “insufficient sanitation standards.”

There is so far no indication of additional cases.

Gumna Prefecture is located on Honshu island.

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For more information:

http://www.examiner.com/health-in-national/death-from-legionella-bacteria-a-japanese-hot-tub

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111126p2a00m0na009000c.html

http://outbreaknews.com/2011/11/26/elderly-man-dies-legionella-japan-hot-spa/

The library was closed the evening of November 21, 2011, which prompted school officials to close the neighboring high school as a precaution, according to a press release published on the school district’s website.  The press release goes on to say that although health officials determined that the school building was safe for classes on Wednesday, “the district will exercise an abundance of caution,” and will “super-chlorinate, disinfect and clean the campus as precautionary steps.”

The Town of Gilbert Library will reopen on Friday, November 25, 2011, says the press release.

So far, says a Gilbert spokesperson, no cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported among students, faculty, or staff of the school.

For more information:

http://ww2.chandler.k12.az.us/site/default.aspx?PageID=1

Legionnaires’ disease also claimed the life of a resident of the Lighthouse Senior Living facility in Ellicott City, Maryland, as indicated by the Baltimore Sun on November 8, 2011.  “Water restrictions” were apparently implemented to prevent additional cases, but details of those restrictions are unclear at this time.  No other cases have yet been diagnosed.

Updates will follow when they become available.

Health investigators from Hillsborough County are currently combing the park for possible sources of legionella bacteria, and interviewing residents and the victims’ friends and family.  Officials from the Environmental Protection Commission have examined the facility’s water treatment plant, waste treatment plant, and reclaimed water system.  So far, there is no definite connection between the three victims that points to a source of infection, though two hot tubs and two swimming pools at the park have been closed due to low chlorine levels.

No new cases have been confirmed, according to the press, but health department officials are on the lookout, since Legionnaires’ disease has a 2 to 14 day incubation period and the park’s 1000 residents aged 55 and older are particularly vulnerable to infection by legionella.

Sources:

1.  http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/legionnaires-disease-discovered-at-plant-city-mobile-home-park-one-dead/1197240

2.  http://www2.tbo.com/news/health-4-you/2011/oct/19/menewsol-disease-detectives-scour-site-ar-272999/

3.  http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2011/oct/17/11/hillsborough-health-officials-investigating-possib-ar-272508/