Legionnaire's Disease case confirmed in Stephens

The Georgia District 2 Public Health Department has identified and confirmed a single case of Legionnaires' Disease in Stephens County.

Public health spokesman Dave Palmer said a case of Legionnaires' Disease was confirmed in the county on Friday, July 21.

Palmer said that as of Tuesday, the source of the Legionnaires case had not been determined.

"When a single case of Legoinnaires' Disease is reported, public health asks specifiquestions to see if a potential source of infection is indicated," Palmer said.

"However, determining a source of infection without two or more cases would be unlikely because there would be no potential shared source identified," Palmer said.

Palmer said Tuesday that no other cases of Legionnaires' have been reported in Stephens County in recent weeks.

"When two or more cases are reported, a cluster investigation is started to attempt to locate the source," Palmer said.

Due to medical privacy issues, the health department did not identify the person taken ill.

Legionella is a bacterium that can cause Legionnaires' Disease or Pontiac fever, collectively known as Legionellosis.

There were about 6,000 casese of Legionnaires' Disease reported in the U.S. in 2015.

Pontiac fever is a less severe form of the illness.

Sufferers of Legionnaires become infected when they breathe in small droplets of air that contain the bacteria.

Except in very rare in-said. stances, it is not spread from human-to-human.

Those with increased susceptibility to the bacteria include people of ages 50 or more, current or former smokers, people with chronic lung disease, people with weakened immune systems, people with cancer and other underlying illnesses such as diabetes, or kidney or liver failure.

Legionella is naturally found in freshwater environments such as lakes and streams.

It can become a health concern when it grows and spreads in human-made water systems such as showers and faucets, hot tubs that are not drained after use, decorative fountains and water fixtures, hot water tanks and heaters and large plumbing systems.

Many people who contract the bacteria do not develop symptoms, but those that do have symptoms such as cough, fever, chills, shortness of breath, muscle aches, headaches, and diarrhea.

Legionnaire's Disease takes its name from the outbreak in 1976 at a convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia, Pa.

Some 182 of the more than 2,000 Legion members attending the convention being held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel were stricken with the disease. Twenty-nine of them died.