Nearly a month ago, we posted about the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas and its recent outbreak incident. Now, as of this past Tuesday, the Brooke Army Medical Center is stating that they have identified the probable source of the Legionella bacteria and even went so far as to confirm for the first time the three patients who had developed Legionnaire’s disease since last August. The Legionella bacteria’s likely source turned out to be a water heater within an abandoned building next to the main hospital. All Brooke Army Medical Center personnel were moved out of the…
Earlier last month, researchers with the National Institutes of Health reported that many hospital plumbing systems are a ‘vast’ reservoir of drug-resistant superbug germs and other bacteria like Legionella. This report came after NIH officials had done checks of the plumbing at the their flagship hospital near Washington, D.C., checks which showed drains could be packed with bacteria and ultimately concluded that this issue is likely present at other hospitals. Now the report also mentioned that the superbugs are not very common anywhere else in the hospitals and as such, they are simply unlikely to be an overall threat to…
Due to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak at the Island Walk gated community at the West Villages development in North Port last Friday, the Sarasota County Health Department will be testing the pool as well as the spa area of the facilities. The environmental health director for the Sarasota County Health Department Tom Higginbotham said the test kits had arrived on Tuesday and that the water from the hot tub along with both pools would be tested. Mr. Higginbotham also mentioned that the health department’s investigation should take around two days and that while the spa and two pools are the focus of the investigation,…
Last week, CBS Chicago reported that Legionella bacteria had been found at the Comptroller’s Springfield office. The results were confirmed last Tuesday by officials from Comptroller Susana Mendoza’s office and also noted that the contaminated water was not in locations of the office which were accessible to employees. This revelations comes to light at a clearly rough time for many of Illinois’ state facilities, which most recently included the news that health officials had confirmed a fourth case of Legionnaires’ disease at the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home. It is important to keep this story in perspective. After all, Legionella bacteria was found however…
This past Monday, February 19, a Philadelphia-based global molecular solutions company called Invisible Sentinel Inc. announced its first-in-class Legionella species assay had been verified and adopted by a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) ELITE Certified Laboratory called Q Laboratories, Inc. The CDC ELITE, or Environmental Legionella Isolation Techniques Evaluation, is a CDC designation for labs that have shown proficiency with isolating, growing, and identifying Legionella from samples collected in the environment. Traditional screening methods, however, can often take up to two weeks so a development like the one touted by Invisible Sentinel would certainly mark a significant improvement. The new…
About a month ago, we began discussing the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home outbreak. Since then, we have followed legislative attempts as well as the revelation last week that there were in fact 2 new cases found. Now just a week later, it was reported last night that there are, in fact, two additional cases stemming from the Qunicy, Illinois Veterans Home. The Illinois Department of Public Health made this announcement on Tuesday, just hours after the state’s Senate Democrats had held a series of hearings regarding the outbreaks. This fourth patient is apparently in stable condition and the central issue being discussed by Senate…
Last Wednesday, officials with the Illinois’ Department of Human Services made a statement that a patient at the Chester Mental Health Center, a mental health facility in southern Illinois, had tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. In the statement, the officials also said that the patient from the mental health facility was being treated and is in stable condition. In response to the incident, the Chester Mental Health Center stated that it would be working with the Illinois’ Department of Public Health to find the source of the bacteria and maintain extensive monitoring other patients. In a news release earlier this week…
NSF International, a global public health organization that develops standards and tests and certifies products for the water, food, consumer goods and health sciences industries will be hosting the first ever Legionella Conference alongside the National Science Foundation. The conference, specifically entitled the Legionella Conference 2018 – Managing Legionella and Other Pathogens in Building Water Systems, will be occurring from May 9-11, 2018, in Baltimore, Maryland and represents the first time experts with various backgrounds including from academia, medicine, industry, public health and government will come together in order to discuss Legionella along with other related pathogens which can be found in water distribution systems. Specifically, the conference…
Over the past few weeks, we have been following the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home outbreak, one which has so far contributed to the death of 13 residents of the Veterans home while infecting dozens more. Now, as of this morning, officials have come forward and reported that in fact two additional confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease among the residents of the veterans’ home have been discovered. Meanwhile the Illinois Department of Public Health made an announcement Monday evening that it had already removed faucets from residents’ rooms in the veteran’s home and were collecting water samples along with taking other…
Last Thursday, February 1, 2018, Frans Timmermans, the vice-president of the European commission, announced changes to the drinking water directive which put additional responsibilities on national governments within the EU. These responsibilities, specifically, would push national governments to provide greater access to drinking fountains as well as prompt additional restaurants to offer free tap water. This is all being done to reduce plastic waste and ultimately improve the health of Europeans yet in order to do this second objective fully, the initiative must also ensure water safety is being elevated as well. This means that this current push will not only raise…