Oakland County sheriff\u2019s administration building reopened Tuesday after the water system, which tested positive for Legionella bacteria, was disinfected and filters added to faucets.<\/p>\n
The water was tested after a county custodian was diagnosed with Legionnaire\u2019s disease<\/a>, a bacterial form of pneumonia transmitted in air droplets or mist. The Legionella bacteria can develop in infrequently used water fountains and air conditioning systems, among other sites.<\/p>\n People who contract Legionnaire\u2019s disease or the less-severe Pontiac fever, also caused by the Legionella bacteria, are not contagious.<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s administration building was closed on Friday and Monday so the water system could be flushed with chlorine and sterile filters installed on all faucets, according to county officials.<\/p>\n Four people have died from Legionnaire\u2019s disease in Oakland County so far this year, Mullan said. County officials have not said if any had connections to county buildings.<\/p>\n One person, whose current medical status has not been made public by county officials, was diagnosed in April and told health officials they had visited the county courthouse at 1200 N. Telegraph Road in Pontiac.<\/p>\n Water tests are underway at the courthouse.<\/p>\n Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Lynn Sutfin said the agency is working with the county\u2019s health division to investigate the outbreak.<\/p>\n She said it includes providing \u201cepidemiology and industrial hygiene support, such as what information and specimens to collect, where water system testing should be done, review of documents such as water management plans, all in accordance with our established response protocols.\u201d<\/p>\n The state uses a 27-page document and other guidelines developed<\/a> by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control<\/a> for minimizing the risk of Legionella in water systems. Guidelines call for a dedicated team to document each building\u2019s water systems to identify low-use areas. Other guidelines include:<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Set standards for water flow and stagnation; schedule routine tests for bacteria; regularly flush water fountains, sinks, eye-wash stations and emergency showers to replace stagnant water<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Monitor the controls<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Have a clear response when controls fall below standards<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0 Document all activities.<\/p>\n The county does not have a full-time industrial hygienist \u2013 a person responsible for workplace inspections for health and safety and recommending sanitizing methods or improvements.<\/p>\n The county does have an industrial hygiene consultant, Mullan said. That consultant is part of the county\u2019s workplace safety team, he said.<\/p>\n The Oakland Press has requested the county\u2019s plan for testing, maintaining and sanitizing drinking water but that information was not provided by deadline.<\/p>\n Statewide between 2019 and this year, 2,716 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaire\u2019s disease, averaging 452 per year.<\/p>\n Michigan Department of Health & Human Services\u2019 Vital Records and Health Statistics division tracks residents\u2019 causes of death, including Legionnaire\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n In 2020, Oakland County had four of the state\u2019s 27 Legionnaire\u2019s deaths. The county had one death in 2021 when there were 35 statewide and in 2022 when 18 people died from the disease.<\/p>\n In 2023, the county reported nine deaths, the same number as Wayne County, when there were 24 deaths statewide. Of the state\u2019s nine deaths last year, Oakland County had four.<\/p>\n So far this year, 21 people have died of the disease, four in Oakland County, second to 16 in Wayne County.<\/p>\n No details are being released on the county\u2019s four deaths this year.<\/p>\n \u201cWe cannot discuss individual cases due to HIPPA,\u201d Mullan said, referring to the 1996 federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that prevents certain health information from being publicly disclosed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oakland County sheriff\u2019s administration building reopened Tuesday after the water system, which tested positive for Legionella bacteria, was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[48730,48729,47284,48734,48732,143,904,11623,145,144,47290,48731,48733,47288],"class_list":["post-86929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-drinking-fountains","tag-legionella-bacteria","tag-legionnaires-disease","tag-lung-crud","tag-mdhhs","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-county","tag-oakland-county-health","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-pneumonia","tag-potable-water","tag-upper-respiratory-disease","tag-water-safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86929","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=86929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}