Legionnaires' Disease Lawyer

Twelve people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in Niagara County. Eight of those diagnosed are associated with the Lockport area specifically.

A cooling tower at the Eastern Niagara Hospital in Lockport recently tested positive for Legionella bacteria. Under the 2016 New York state regulations, cooling towers must be regularly tested for Legionella, and any cooling towers that test positive must report it to the state and local departments of health.

The hospital advised they have since re-cleaned and disinfected the cooling tower, and also in accordance with the 2016 New York state regulations they will also conduct additional testing to confirm the remediation was successful. County health officials don’t believe there is a connection between the twelve confirmed cases and the hospital at this time because a few of those individuals diagnosed had not visited Lockport within the past year.

The Niagara County Department of Health has indicated that a lot of possible sources have already been eliminated, and that it has been in the process of testing other cooling towers in the area in an attempt to locate the source of the outbreak.

Western New York is a common living place for Legionella bacteria. The total count of confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease over the past year in Erie County is 42, while sixteen cases have been confirmed in Niagara County.

Jules Zacher is an attorney in Philadelphia who has tried Legionnaires’ disease cases across the U.S.  Please visit LegionnaireLawyer.com for updates to this post or for more information on Legionnaires’ disease.