Legionnaires’ Disease Kills 2, Sickens 22 Near Detroit

An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease has killed two people and sickened at least 22 more, and about the only link investigators have found is that the victims lived, worked or passed through a 6-square-mile area of suburban Detroit.

The number of cases rose Monday to 24 from 12 over the weekend, though most of those were older cases just being reported. At least two hospitals awaited test results to see if any recently admitted patients have the disease.

The victims are mostly elderly and had been in a small area in the communities of Farmington and Farmington Hills, northwest of Detroit, in late September.

A 74-year-old woman died Oct. 8 and a 76-year-old woman died last week.

More than half a dozen new cases were confirmed Monday afternoon, but they are newly reported cases rather than new infections, said Dr. Carolyn Bird, chief of medical services for the Oakland County Health Division.

The disease is not contagious. Instead, it is spread mainly by inhaling airborne water droplets containing the bacteria. It can be treated with antibiotics.

State and county health officials are interviewing victims, and investigators are testing the water in buildings’ cooling towers. Most air conditioners are not running now because of cooler weather, but cleanups are being done on several cooling towers in light of the new reports, Bird said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also investigating, but pinpointing the source could take months, said Dr. William Hall, chief of communicable disease epidemiology at the state Community Health Department.

Legionnaires’ disease can cause high fevers and severe respiratory ailments. About 10,000 people in the United States develop the disease each year, and 5% to 15% of known cases prove fatal, the CDC said.

Legionnaires’ disease is named for its first known victims, who contracted the disease during an American Legion convention at a Philadelphia hotel in 1976. In all, 34 people died and 221 were sickened.

The Detroit-area outbreak “is a small cluster. . . . It’s not a crisis,” said Dr. Tom Madhavan, chief of infectious diseases at Providence Hospital.