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Wednesday, October 23, 2013
(WDNG) - State officials say the spread of Legionella pneumonia in northwest Alabama may have affected up to 24 people. State Assistant Health Officer Dr. Karen Landers on Tuesday said that officials at the Regency Square Mall and Southwire in Florence are cooperating with the health department after testing confirmed the bacteria was found in cooling towers at the businesses.
One person has died and another 13 people are confirmed to have fallen ill because of Legionella pneumonia, a respiratory illness that affects people with the elderly or chronic lung problems. Another 10 are suspected to have contracted the illness but Landers says they are waiting on laboratory results to confirm those cases.
According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, all confirmed cases have been linked to a Florence nursing home located less than a mile away from Regency Square Mall. According to information from the Alabama Department of Public Health, cooling towers on rooftops can “dispense water droplets over some distance.”
State health officials on Monday said the Glenwood Nursing Home has not been positively identified as a source of contaminated water vapor and remains open and operational. Two cooling towers at the mall and a single tower at the Florence Southwire facility have been turned off while state officials take samples.
According to the Department of Public Health, Legionella pneumonia, commonly known as Legionnaires’ disease, is not transmitted from person to person but instead when a person breathes in mist or vapor containing the bacteria. It reportedly gets its nickname from an American Legion convention in Philadelphia in 1976 that saw a new bacteria sicken more than 200 people and kill 34.
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Keywords: legionella pneumonia,Legionnaires' Disease,Alabama Department of Public Health,Glenwood Nursing Home,Florence,Lauderdale County
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