April 19, 2022 zacherlaw 0 Comments

In December 2020, the European Union (EU) revised the Drinking Water Directive by approving a new set of rules that extended Legionella monitoring to every potable water system in the EU. The new rules entered force on January 12, 2021, with new member states having two years to transpose them into national legislation. Member states are left free to determine their approach to testing, as they can choose the methods they find most appropriate for the purposes of sampling Legionella. In response to this, a new study has been initiated in Italy comparing the culture methods of testing for Legionella…

April 17, 2022 zacherlaw 0 Comments

In addition to two already confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease from guests staying at the Hilton Grand Vacations in Waikiki, the Hawaii Department of Health is now investigating an additional case. The guest was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease on April 2. They stayed at the Grand Islander from March 18 to 25. The first case was diagnosed in June 2021 and the second case on March 6 or 7, 2022. Water samples collected in March indicated a potential for legionella growth within the building’s potable water system. Most healthy people exposed to the bacteria do not develop Legionnaires’ disease. However,…

April 10, 2022 zacherlaw 0 Comments

On March 11, the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) and the Illinois Department of Public Health released a joint press release announcing that Legionella bacteria had been detected in two Illinois prisons-Stateville Correctional Center and Joliet Treatment Center. However, an IDOC spokesperson has now confirmed that the actual number of prisons with confirmed Legionella in the water supply is five. Legionella was also found in Graham Correctional Center, Kewanee Life Skills Re-Entry Center, and Stateville Northern Reception and Classification Center.  Legionella is the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially fatal type of pneumonia. Legionella bacteria primarily moves from water…