State Representative Stephanie Kifowit from Oswego proposed legislation on Monday, 1/29/2018, which would, “mandate prompt notification in the event of a future outbreak of an infectious disease” at every Illinois state Veterans home. This bill is clearly being put forward now in response to the Quincy, Illinois Veterans Home outbreak, one which resulted in not only numerous infections but indeed several deaths as well. This post would certainly seek to promote most measures which would encourage notification and information in regards to any sporadic individual cases or outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease. Notification after the fact, however, should clearly not be…
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…
Two individuals were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease at the Ussery Roan Veterans’ Home at the end of August this year. Officials confirmed that one patient is being treated at the nursing home, while the other is being treated at Amarillo VA Hospital. Both patients appear to be improving and are expected to recover at this time. Brittany Eck is the Press Secretary for the Texas General Land Office, or the agency that oversees the operation of eight VA nursing homes in Texas. Eck stated that after notification of the diagnoses, the agency quickly began working with the Amarillo Public Health Department and…
A fourth resident of the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy, Illinois was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. Another case of Legionnaires’ disease was also recently confirmed in the Quincy area, but this case does not appear to be associated with the Veterans’ Home in any way. A spokesman with the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, Dave MacDonna, indicated that the source of the Legionella bacteria that is responsible for this fourth case associated with the facility has not yet been determined. The gentleman’s room, where he eats, where he relaxes, and the building where he lives have all been eliminated as possible sources of exposure to the bacteria. In light of four positive…
More cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported at an Illinois veterans’ home. The facility has been trying to prevent Legionella infection since an outbreak last August during which 54 people were sickened and 12 died. On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs revealed two cases of Legionnaires’ disease that originated at the Quincy Illinois Veterans’ Home. Health officials said that the patients contracted the disease from separate buildings. The patients were treated at a hospital and are now recovering in the veterans’ home. These new cases come at a difficult time for the Quincy facility, which recently refurbished…
The Quincy Veterans Home in Quincy, Illinois has unveiled a new water system designed to combat Legionnaires’ disease. An August 2015 outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at the home sickened 53 people and caused 12 deaths. (Read our blog post for more about this outbreak.) During the outbreak, residents drank bottled water and avoided showers as officials disinfected water tanks with chlorine and shut down potential sources of the bacteria. As investigators noted, the veterans’ home posed several challenges to officials as they sough to stop the spread of the disease. The sprawling, 200-acre campus contains 48 buildings, making efforts to identify and…