8 from Wis. hospital get Legionnaire's disease

March 14, 2010

 
CUDAHY - A Milwaukee-area hospital says eight people who have been patients there in the last month have been diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease.

Adam Beeson is a spokesman for Aurora St. Luke's South Shore in Cudahy. He tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel none of the cases has been fatal. He says every patient is receiving treatment or has completed treatment.

Legionnaire's disease is a form of pneumonia caused by waterborne bacteria.

Beeson says hospital officials were working Saturday to notify more than 1,000 former patients about the outbreak.

Beeson says the source of the outbreak hasn't been identified. He says officials have tested and treated water sources in the hospital, and that the health department has told them the facility is safe.

Associated Press