53 pages of e-mails released by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) shows the concern over water quality in Genesee County and the potential of Legionnaires’ disease. The MDHHS was aware of the spike in Legionnaires’ disease cases in Genessee County since at least October 2014. From the e-mails, it appears that the Genesee County Health Department was going to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rather than communicating with the state health department. A February 2015 e-mail from Shannon Johnson of the MDHHS shows the state health department’s frustrations over seven months of trying to…
Portuguese researchers published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine on February 4, 2016 suggesting that they have found a case in which Legionella bacteria were transmitted person-to-person. The case involves a 48-year-old man who works as a maintenance worker at an industrial cooling tower complex. He became infected with Legionella pneumophila in October 2014 and was one of the first cases involved in a cluster of cases in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. The man lived with his 74-year-old mother and when he developed respiratory symptoms including severe cough, she took care of him. Approximately two weeks later, the…
Florida Hospital Orlando’s water system is undergoing remediation after testing positive for Legionella bacteria last week. So far, no patients at the hospital have tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. Hospital officials also said that the hospital’s water is safe to drink. At-risk patients of the hospital are being tested for Legionella and hospital staff have been instructed to take extra measures to prevent vulnerable patients from contracting Legionnaires’ disease. Florida Hospital Orlando’s most recent incident with the pneumonia-causing bacteria occurred in late 2015 when a patient tested positive for Legionella. To read more about this story, please click here.
Corey Gutwasser, a 25-year-old in Lakeville, Minnesota is out of his medically induced coma that he was put in last month due to Legionnaires’ disease. According to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, he was exposed to Legionella bacteria in November and was put on life support in December, but is now in stable condition. Gutwasser’s mother, Melanie Buetow, said that her son will need physical rehabilitation to relearn how to talk and eat. The Minnesota Department of Health conducted an investigation and cited Babe’s Bar and Grill in Lakeville as a potential source of Gutwasser’s Legionnaires’ disease. Gutwasser worked at…
Every year thousands of cases of Legionnaires’ disease are reported that disrupt lives and place a great burden on businesses that could have potentially avoided outbreaks in their facilities. More and more institutions are enacting preventative measures to ensure that Legionnaires’ disease does not reach their populations. The questions is, then, what advice are these businesses and/or people following to guarantee that they will not have to deal with this issue? Expert Sherrie Dornberger of McKnight’s News corroborates a suggestion made by the Center for Disease Control (CDC): don’t build a fountain. Many cases of Legionnaires’ disease arise from the…