Public awareness of the problem of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint, Michigan may finally be paying off. A research project headed by Wayne State University in Michigan will investigate the possibility that water from the Flint River was contaminated with Legionella bacteria in addition to lead. After nearly 100 Flint residents contracted Legionnaires’ disease in 2014 and 2015, with 12 cases proving fatal, experts wondered whether the outbreak was related to the city’s water system. (By contrast, only one case of Legionnaires’ disease has been reported in the Flint area so far this year.) Little testing was done for Legionella, though, despite the…
A recent Huffington Post article draws attention to the nationwide problem of Legionnaires’ disease and to the benefits of mandatory tests for the disease. In a June 30 piece, Joseph Erbentraut discusses the deadly risk of Legionnaires’ disease as well as the surprising absence of legislation to prevent it. Erbentraut was prompted to write the piece by the recent Legionellosis outbreak in Flint, MI, but the article draws attention to the nationwide prevalence of the disease and the threat it poses to the elderly and infirm. Experts quoted in the article point out the fact that Legionnaires’ disease is often underreported as its…
The first case of Legionnaires’ disease this year has been reported in the Flint, MI area. The news comes less than a week after county officials issued a statement saying that no new cases of Legionnaires’ disease had been reported in Flint’s county in 2016. In a statement released on June 30, the Genesee County Health Department stated that no residents of the area have contracted the disease in 2016. On July 6, however, officials from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced that a patient from the Genesee County area had been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. The…
Legionella bacteria in the water supply of the Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh likely caused a cancer patient to contract Legionnaires’ disease. Officials previously believed that the patient, now recovered, had contracted the illness elsewhere, but new tests show that the bacteria originated in the hospital. After a cancer patient who had previously been treated at the hospital was readmitted with respiratory problems at the end of May, doctors tested the patient for Legionnaires’ disease. (Click here for our original blog post on this story.) The test was positive, and the patient was treated and made a full recovery. At the…
A recent investigation into a pneumonia death in Flint has demonstrated the need for hospitals to release Legionella test results and for diligent testing of patients at risk for Legionnaires’ disease. In a June 28 article for Bridge Magazine, Chastity Pratt Dawsey reports on the case of Bertie Marble. Mrs. Marble, a 68-year-old resident of Flint, Michigan, passed away in March 2015 after a spell of ill health. During her final stay at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint, Mrs. Marble was diagnosed with “healthcare-associated pneumonia”. McLaren had found Legionella bacteria in its water system in late 2014 but had not revealed…
A new website aimed at spreading information about Legionella and Legionnaires’ disease has recently been launched. PreventLegionnaires.org provides basic facts about disease transmission and prevention, and offers advice to managers and businesses on how to manage risk and implement plans to keep Legionella in check. The website also offers downloadable resources specific to healthcare facilities and industrial or commercial buildings. PreventLegionnaires.org is published in association with the CDC and a number of health organizations, and it is funded by several companies that produce cooling towers. Cooling towers have sometimes been to blame for the spread of Legionella. For more…
Michigan’s former chief medical executive had been briefed on potential Legionella contamination nearly a year before the information was made public, though he later denied having been involved in discussions about potential water contamination. Dr. Matthew Davis was the chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services until his departure in April 2015. He was later appointed to the Flint Water Task Force by Governor Rick Snyder. At the time of his appointment, legislators voiced concerns that his prior involvement with Snyder’s administration would create a conflict of interest as the task force investigated the water contamination. Davis…
Reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease are down in Flint, Michigan after the city changed the source of its water supply. The Flint River has become synonymous with lead contamination, but the city’s water supply was also home to dangerously high levels of Legionella bacteria. The spotlight on lead allowed the 2015-16 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, the largest outbreak in recent times, to go relatively unnoticed. Over 90 people were sickened in Flint, 12 of them fatally, over an 18-month period. Experts have linked the outbreak to the city’s tainted water system. The finger-pointing debacle that ensued between government agencies…
Testing last week revealed that the water system of a hospital in Pittsburgh, PA has been contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Allegheny General Hospital conducted tests for Legionella in their water supply after a cancer patient tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease. The patient had been discharged on May 20 for respiratory problems but had been readmitted four days later after a relapse; a urine test revealed that the patient had been infected with Legionella bacteria. Though hospital officials believe that the patient had been exposed to the bacteria outside of the hospital, they tested the hospital’s water supply and discovered Legionella…
The NYC Department of Health has announced a comprehensive plan to reduce the risk of Legionnaires’ disease in New York City. Following the 2015 outbreaks in the South Bronx , Mayor de Blasio passed some of the nation’s toughest regulations on cooling towers. The city is now investing more than $7 million to enforce these regulations. Local Law 77, which focuses on preventative maintenance of the city’s 5,544 cooling towers, took effect on May 9, 2016. This law requires that cooling towers be registered with the city and that all cooling towers have plans in place to reduce outbreaks of…