California IN BRIEF : OAKLAND : Janitor From Closed Office Building Dies

A janitor stricken after working in a Social Security building closed last fall by an outbreak of legionnaire’s disease has died. Fifteen employees of the Social Security Administration offices in Richmond became ill, including Margaret Thomas, 48, the latest to die, and Rosalind Sheffield, 39, who died in September. Thomas and Sheffield worked in the basement. Sheffield was found to have died of legionnaire’s disease; the cause of Thomas’ death could take three to six weeks to determine, said Dan Apperson, spokesman for the Alameda County coroner’s office. Legionella bacteria were found last fall in the basement and in the cooling tower of the Richmond building.