Legionnaires' Bacteria Found In Eastern PA Water Supply

Low levels of the Legionella bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease was found in an eastern Pennsylvania water supply on Monday, authorities confirmed, as outbreaks of the virus in other parts of the region have put health officials on alert.

The bacteria, which thrives in warm water environments, was discovered at the Berks County South Campus facility in Mohnton, about six miles southwest of Reading and some 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

The county said they are following the remediation recommendations of the testing laboratory that discovered the bacteria, including water system flushing and additional testing.

The county will also provide potable drinking water and temporary bathroom facilities at the South Campus location "out of an abundance of caution." The campus, which houses many of the county's key departments and staff, will not be closed down.

It comes in the wake of a recent outbreak in New York City which began July 25 and has sickened nearly 70 people and killed three.

While Legionnaires' is not typically spread from person to person, it is easily contractible in warm water environments, especially the kind found in hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, and decorative fountains. Individuals can contract Legionnaires' disease when they breathe in mist or water vapor that has been contaminated.

Symptoms range from a cough and high fever, like other forms of pneumonia, to muscle aches, headaches, and shortness of breath.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health had previously issued an alert in May warning of an expected "seasonal increase" in cases, noting in a memo to healthcare facilities that the disease can often be misdiagnosed because it carries similar symptoms to other forms of pneumonia. The memo urges "all patients hospitalized with pneumonia of unknown cause be tested for Legionella infection."

Most cases of Legionnaires' disease can be treated with antibiotics, according to the health department, but infected individuals occasionally need to be hospitalized.

Also known as Pontiac Fever, Legionnaires' disease takes it’s name from the 1976 Philadelphia convention of the American Legion, where there was an outbreak of the disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Somewhere between 8,000 and 18,000 individuals contract the disease every year, per the CDC.