Earlier this month, the Platinum Ridge Center for Rehabilitation & Healing was notified by the Allegheny County Health Department about a case of Legionnaires’ disease among an individual associated with their facility. Melissa Wade, spokeswoman for the Allegheny County Health Department, indicated that the water at Platinum Ridge has since tested positive for Legionella bacteria which causes Legionnaires’ disease. However, Wade was unable to provide when the patient associated with the facility was diagnosed with the disease. The facility has been taking precautions such as providing bottled water to it’s residents until the water supply is rid of Legionella. Platinum Ridge, located…
On Monday night, tenants of 1600 Sedgwick Ave in Morris Heights came home to a letter from the New York City Department of Health, notifying them that two tenants of the building had tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. The two cases of Legionnaires’ disease were diagnosed about 12 months apart from each other. The New York City Department of Health held a meeting at the Sedgwick Ave building Monday night, and indicated that they are in the process of testing the building’s water supply as a possible source of the Legionella bacteria that caused these two cases. In the meantime,…
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…
A resident of a county-run nursing home in Pennsylvania was diagnosed on October 24 with Legionnaires’ disease, and officials believe she contracted it from her residence. McKeesport Regional Care Center, where the woman lives, has taken measures to guard against the possibility of further cases. The woman was hospitalized and diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease at UPMC McKeesport. After being informed of the case, management at McKeesport RCC distributed bottled water and put the water system at the nursing home out of commission. They also sent a letter informing patients and their families about the diagnosis. Management also sampled water from…
Thirteen cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Saratoga Springs, NY have prompted health officials to launch an investigation. After extensive testing, a nursing home in the area has reported the presence of Legionella bacteria in its water system. Nine of the thirteen cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the city have been linked to the Wesley Health Care Center, and two of the patients suffering from the disease have died. State health officials recommended that management at Wesley, a nursing home and health campus, test their water supply. Nearly forty water samples were taken from the campus. Results have now returned and indicate that Legionella bacteria is…
A small outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in upstate New York has health department officials searching for a possible source of bacteria. Four individuals have recently been treated for the disease. Three of them lived at the same Plattsburgh apartment complex, and the fourth lives nearby. The patients were being treated at the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh. The Clinton County Health Department is working with the New York State Department of Health to investigate possible sources of Legionella bacteria. Though three of the patients live in the same apartment complex, officials cautioned that the source could be aerosolized water in…
Legionnaires’ disease has caused a second death in Niagara County, state health officials report. County Public Health Director Daniel Stapleton stated that the second victim had “underlying health conditions”, but no specific information about the patient has yet been released. Eight cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported in Lockport, NY The first death was that of a man who lived near the Eastern Niagara Hospital. A cooling tower on hospital property was recently found to have elevated levels of Legionella bacteria. Routine state-mandated tests revealed the colony of bacteria in the cooling tower in September. The hospital sanitized and retested the…
Three people that visited the Red Roof Inn in Danville, Illinois between October 2015 and September 2016 developed Legionnaires’ disease. Two of these people are residents of Michigan that were traveling together, while the third is a resident of northern Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health collected samples from the swimming pool, spa, and a guest room at the hotel on October 5, 2016 to test for the presence of Legionella bacteria. However, on Wednesday, October 26, 2016, Vermilion County Health Administrator Doug Toole announced that the 10 samples collected at the hotel all tested negative for Legionella. Toole also indicated that…
A late-summer cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases in Buffalo, NY is still under investigation. The investigation began when state-mandated testing revealed that a cooling tower at the East Niagara Hospital contained elevated levels of Legionella bacteria. Testing is now being done to determine whether the strain of Legionella in the patients’ bodies is the same as that in the cooling tower. Recent legislation in New York has required building owner to test all cooling every 90 days and log their results with the State Health Department. In a routine test of the hospital’s cooling tower, levels of Legionella were found to be ten times those allowed…
An employee of Fiat Chrysler has contracted Legionnaires’ disease, and company officials are now conducting tests to ensure that their plant is not the source. The Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit, MI was built in 1991 and employs about 5,000 people. The company learned of the employee’s diagnosis on Wednesday. Though the source of the bacteria is still unknown, officials are now testing the water sources at the plant. The company’s “abundance of caution for the safety and welfare” of its employees is likely prompted by the recent attention that Legionnaires’ disease has received in the nearby Flint, MI…