Is there Legionnaires disease in Montgomery County?
The Montgomery County Health Department received one report of Legionnaries’ disease in 2003. There were three cases reported both in 2004 and 2005. How is Legionnaires’ disease spread? Legionnella bacteria are found in the environment, usually in water. The bacteria grow best in warm water, like the kind found in hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, or parts of the air-conditioning systems of large buildings. People contract Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in a mist or vapor that has been contaminated with the bacteria (breathing in the steam from a whirlpool spa that has not been properly cleaned and disinfected, for example.) Outbreaks occur when two or more people become ill in the same place at about the same time. Outbreaks have occurred in hospitals, on cruise ships and in hotels. What are the symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease? Legionnaires’ disease can have symptoms like many other forms of pneumonia, so it’s difficult to diagnose at first. Sign
