Two Iowa Hospital Patients Stricken by Legionnaire Disease

Two patients at University of Iowa Hospitals developed legionnaire’s disease last week, prompting a weekend evacuation of a hospital wing, university officials said Monday.

The infected patients were recovering from surgery in the south wing of the fifth floor when they developed symptoms, officials said.

It has not been determined whether the bacterium, which thrives in air conditioners and similar equipment, came from outside or inside the 1,000-bed hospital, but doctors have found no other symptoms in other patients, Doug Williamson, a hospital official, said.