Three members of one family have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in upstate New York. The three cases were not geographically linked and did not begin at the same time. Niagara officials have yet to determine the possible sources of the bacteria, but investigation is ongoing. Richard Jepson, 68, was a resident of Lockport, NY. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer but was hospitalized briefly with Legionnaires’ disease in July before passing away at the Buffalo General Hospital on July 22, 2016. Six weeks after Mr. Jepson’s death, his stepdaughter Debra Trammell, 50, and his ex-wife Patricia Lord, 70, were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. Ms. Trammell had recently relocated to Newfane, in upstate New York, from Georgia. Ms. Lord lives in Hartland. The three towns are situated within a 10-mile radius of one another but no common source of the bacteria has yet been identified. The three patients did not visit frequently and had few possible exposures in common. Investigators initially suspected that a hospital cooling tower near Mr. Jepson’s residence could be the source of the bacteria, but this would not explain how Ms. Lord and Ms. Trammell were exposed. The investigation is ongoing. More information is available here. Jules Zacher is an attorney in Philadelphia who has tried Legionnaires’ disease cases across the U.S. Please visit LegionnaireLawyer.com again for updates.
Three family members contract Legionnaires’ disease was last modified: November 15th, 2016 by