QUINCY, Ill. (WAND) - Another resident has tested positive for Legionnaires' disease at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy.Â
The same facility that saw a 2015 Legionnaires' disease outbreak claim 13 lives has seen multiple new cases since, including one in December 2019 and another in February 2018. The latest case was confirmed Tuesday.Â
Illinois officials said in a press release the latest case involved a resident who tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 30. They were treated in an emergency room and were tested for Legionella as a matter of course. The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs then heard back the legionella test was positive.Â
The resident is responding positively to medical treatment and is recovering at the Quincy veterans home. Officials said they have notified families of residents and power-of-attorneys and posted the case to the IDVA and Illinois Department of Public Health websites. Notices have been posted throughout the facility and staff has also been notified in shift meetings.Â
This is the first case found in the facility's Hammond Hall, officials said. The building is on a quarterly testing schedule and was lasted tested on Oct. 27, 2020. This test came back negative, the release said.Â
"No other cases have been identified and IVHQ continues to follow its plans to monitor residents for respiratory illness," the release said. "New piping was recently installed in the facility which receives water directly from the City of Quincy. A pall filter was installed on the pipe leading into the building."
Officials have now tested areas the resident has been in as well as up flow and down flow of those rooms. Testing has been done at Hammond Hall and the Fifer building, and state leaders said results typically take 11-13 days to come back.Â
The December 2019 case reported at the Quincy facility happened in the Fifer building. Water tests following that case were found to be negative. Officials said they have been conducting tests every two weeks at Fifer, with the last two tests (Nov. 24 and Dec. 8, 2020) coming back negative.
The release added there are pall filters installed at all point of use locations in the Fifer building.Â
In regard to the latest case, IDPH infectious disease staff is working with the facility in order to further investigate the resident's illness and collect information.Â
Legionnaires' disease follows the growth of Legionella bacteria in water, which can then be aerosolized from cooling towers, showers, hot tubs, showers and decorated fountains and then inhaled. It can cause Legionnaires' disease, which is a serious lung infection.Â
Most healthy people do not get Legionnaires' disease from Legionella bacteria exposure.Â
Legionnaires' disease illnesses are typically associated with places that have complex water systems. This includes hotels, hospitals, long-term care facilities and cruise ships.Â
Click here for more information about the disease.Â
