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Death toll in
Legionnaires' outbreak in Illinois rises to eight
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[September 03, 2015]
CHICAGO (Reuters) - An outbreak of
Legionnaires' disease has killed an eighth person in Quincy, Illinois,
and sickened 41, mostly at a veterans home, health and veterans affairs
officials said on Wednesday.
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 The latest death occurred outside the Illinois Veterans' Home, the
officials said, adding that three others were sickened in the city
and six more at the veterans home, the officials said.
There was no evidence the new cases in the city were connected to
the outbreak at the veterans home, Illinois Department of Public
Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said.
About 400 people live at the veterans home, the largest and oldest
such facility in the state, said Illinois Department of Veterans'
Affairs spokesman Ryan Yantis.
The outbreak in Quincy, about 240 miles southwest of Chicago,
follows recent outbreaks of the respiratory illness that killed a
dozen people in New York City and sickened inmates at a California
prison.
Legionnaires' is a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling mist
infected with the bacteria Legionella. Symptoms include fever,
cough, chills and muscle aches.
Legionnaires' disease cannot be transmitted person-to-person, and a
person must inhale contaminated water vapor to be infected.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials have been
working with Illinois veterans and health officials to investigate
the latest outbreak.
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In New York, an earlier outbreak traced to the historic Opera House
Hotel killed 12 people and sickened 128 before it was declared over
in August.
Six inmates at San Quentin State Prison near San Francisco have been
sickened and 95 inmates there are under observation.
(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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