Tests from 11 areas in Oakland County\u2019s circuit courthouse have shown at least four sites with legionella, according to county officials.<\/p>\n
Positive results were found in two men\u2019s restrooms and two cafeteria sinks.<\/p>\n
Legionella is a bacteria that causes a type of pneumonia called Legionnaire\u2019s disease or a less-serious respiratory illness called Pontiac fever.<\/p>\n
Tests at the courthouse, 1200 N. Telegraph Road in Pontiac, were done on the heels of testing at the sheriff\u2019s administration building in Pontiac after a custodian fell ill with Legionnaire\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Tests were ordered for all county buildings, starting with the courthouse. Test results take about two weeks. County officials received the courthouse results just before Christmas.<\/p>\n
Kathy Gray, a county spokeswoman, confirmed that 11 locations inside the courthouse were tested. The four areas with positive results for legionella included two men\u2019s restrooms, on the first and third floors and two cafeteria sinks that are not publicly accessible.<\/p>\n
The cafeteria is in the courthouse\u2019s basement and is closed until Jan. 5, Gray said.<\/p>\n
The courthouse was closed on Wednesday and Thursday but open on Friday. Gray said it\u2019s unclear how many people were working Friday, as many had taken the day off.<\/p>\n
The county\u2019s priority, she said, was notifying employees, flushing the water systems and installing filters that would prevent the bacteria from exiting the plumbing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny areas they can\u2019t get to today will be temporarily closed,\u201d she said. The county\u2019s elected officials were alerted Friday morning and the county notified employees after that, she said.<\/p>\n
She said follow-up tests in the sheriff\u2019s administration building showed no signs of legionella.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will continue periodically testing over there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
More county buildings will be tested but county officials have not shared the schedule or other details.<\/p>\n
One person diagnosed with Legionnaire\u2019s disease in April told health officials he had visited the county courthouse but Gray that his illness has not been directly linked with the county building.<\/p>\n
The county has not released conditions on the custodian or the man who visited the courthouse in April.<\/p>\n
Joe Rozell, UAW Local 889\u2019s first vice president works in the courthouse and said he talked with county labor-relations officials about employee safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe county plans to flush the courthouse water system and are installing filters now,\u201d he said in a text message to The Oakland Press Friday. \u201cThis validates the union\u2019s position that testing and remediation must continue for all buildings in which our members are present. The safety of our members is and always will be paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legionella can develop in soil particles or little-used water systems and travel in microscopic water droplets. Some people who inhale the mist can develop Legionnaire\u2019s or Pontiac fever. People with compromised immune systems are more likely to be infected. Legionnaire\u2019s cannot be transmitted from one person to another.<\/p>\n
Symptoms can include cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath and sometimes confusion, diarrhea or nausea.<\/p>\n
County Commission Chairman Dave Woodward and minority caucus leader Mike Spisz did not respond to questions from The Oakland Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tests from 11 areas in Oakland County\u2019s circuit courthouse have shown at least four sites with legionella, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[47284,143,50358,59013,145,144,59014],"class_list":["post-109959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-legionnaires-disease","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-county-health-department","tag-oakland-county-legionella","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-pontiac-fever"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}