CDC Releases Legionella Prevention Toolkit for Building Managers and Owners

East Wenatchee, WA— Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan counties recently had 10 cases of Legionnaires’ disease, a serious form of pneumonia caused by a bacterial infection that kills about 1 in 10 people who contract it. Fortunately, all of the patients in this outbreak survived. Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease, grows in warm water conditions and commonly in equipment such as cooling towers, hot and cold water tanks, misters, decorative fountains and spas/hot tubs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a new toolkit to help determine if your facility is at risk for Legionella contamination and if so, how to develop a Water Management Program to reduce Legionella growth and spread. The Toolkit is a practical guide for implementing industry standards in facilities that need a Water Management Program. The CDC identified building-associated outbreak problems as inadequate disinfectant levels, human error and equipment breakdowns. Health Officials at Chelan-Douglas Health District are asking that all building owners and managers take the survey on page two of the Legionella Toolkit to determine if your building is at risk. The CDC Legionella Toolkit can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/legionella/downloads/toolkit.pdf.

“Legionella outbreaks are becoming more common around the country” said Barry Kling, Administrator of the Chelan-Douglas Health District. “The best way to prevent these outbreaks is to prevent the growth of Legionella in the first place. This can be done by developing and implementing a Water Management Program in facilities that have equipment where Legionella is known to grow well. Some of these include cooling towers, spas, decorative fountains and misters. It is very important to properly maintain these types of equipment in order to protect the health and safety of our community.”

Additional information is available at www.cdhd.wa.gov.