Earlier this month, a resident at a Veterans Home in Fresno, California tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. There were no other incidents at the facility, according to Deputy Secretary for Communication at the California Department of Veterans Affairs June Iljana, and apparently residents, staff and visitors at the Veterans home were receiving bottled water out of precaution. It is worth noting that according to Iljana, the particular resident who contracted Legionnaires’ disease lived in the residential care portion and would come and go at their own will so “could have been exposed somewhere else”. That said, in 2017, two Fresno…
Illinois state health officials have been having a difficult couple of weeks as continued questions move ahead over the state’s response to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at Quincy, Illinois’ Veterans Home. Those difficult weeks may be extended by quite a bit more after this week’s testing at the Illinois Capital Building. Late on Monday, 1/22/18, an email by officials announced the preliminary results of testing. The initial testing apparently did not go over well, a move which prompted House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff, Tim Mapes, to send a memo the very next day to prompt everyone at the…
In August of 2015, 133 Bronx residents contracted Legionnaires’ disease, an outbreak which ultimately resulted in the death of 16 individuals. This incident would be the worst recorded outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York state’s history however now, more than two years later, New York continues to show problems as 2017 posts a record number of cases, including a far larger rate of Legionnaires’ disease than just about every other state per capita. New York once again led the United States for reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease in 2017 with a total of 1,009 cases reported to the CDC. And far from the situation improving, this rate of…
In June 2017, a guest who had stayed at the Guest House of Elvis Presley Enterprises’ (EPE) Graceland estate in Memphis, TN had passed away. Three months later, the widow and family members sued EPE, claiming that the victim had contracted Legionnaires’ disease from the estate’s hot tub and swimming pool. Now 7 months after that initial death, it is being reported that EPE is filing a separate lawsuit against two particular pool companies involved with the upkeep and maintenance of the hot tub and swimming pool. Apparently officials with EPE are claiming in their own lawsuit that these two pool…
Over the course of 2014 and 2015, approximately a dozen people died from an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease during Flint’s water crisis. Now it appears as though some of the next steps regarding a potential prosecution are moving ahead. To start, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon is scheduled to restart his preliminary examination this Friday, Jan. 19 and is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter along with misconduct in office. This is significant because Lyon appears to be one of the state public health officials who was aware of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks in the Flint…
Last week, on January 9th, Illinois state officials gathered for a hearing on the Legionnaires’ outbreak which occurred at the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home and has resulted in the death of 13 people since August 2015. This hearing not only discussed the causes of this outbreak and what responses were taken in its aftermath, but also reviewed next steps forward to ensure that such an incident would not happen again. As a review, the first reported case of this outbreak at the veterans home arrived in late July 2015 with a second identified case arriving just a few weeks later.…
From New York to California, populations across the United States have an increased risk of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. Health officials are increasingly concerned about the continuous uptick of Legionnaires’ disease cases, which have risen steadily since 2000. While the waterborne bacterial disease is relatively rare ― with 6,238 cases nationwideso far this year ― there has been a 13.6 percent increase in cases since this time last year. That’s nearly double the increase of 7.8 percent from 2015 to 2016 in the same time period. The disease is not contagious. It’s contracted when people breathe in water droplets contaminated…
Five guests and one employee of the Springhill Suites Austin Round Rock hotel in Williamson County, Texas, have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. The earliest cases were reported to the State Department of Health Services on September 29, 2017. The hotel has enlisted the help of a third-party firm in attempt to identify any possible source of Legionella bacteria and eliminate it from the property. The first three cases all reported being in or around the hot tub at the hotel, as well as the employee who had access to that area of the property. The hotel opted to close…
Drackett Tower at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio is now taking precautions after a student associated with the dorm hall was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. Legionnaires’ disease is a type of bacterial pneumonia caused by exposure to Legionella bacteria. This bacteria tends to thrive in water environments, and can cause illness when it is inhaled in the lungs through a mist or spray form of the contaminated water. Symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease can include nausea, vomiting, coughing, confusion, and lethargy. Reportedly, the dorm had a water drain line collapse last month which required the line to be shut…
James Square nursing home in Syracuse, NY, has implemented additional water restrictions after testing revealed the second building on the property was also positive for Legionella bacteria. The investigation began after two residents reportedly became ill with Legionnaires’ disease, with the first diagnosis in March of 2017, and the second on July 24, 2017. The facility consists of two buildings connected to one another by a pedestrian bridge. The first round of testing revealed Legionella bacteria in one building, while the most recent testing on August 8, 2017, also revealed Legionella bacteria in the second building. The nursing home has since…