Oakland County does not have a routine water-testing program for its 45 buildings where 5,300 employees work.<\/p>\n
County officials are developing such a plan after a custodian who worked in the sheriff\u2019s administration building was diagnosed with Legionnaire\u2019s disease, a type of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria. County officials have not disclosed details about the custodian other than the diagnosis.<\/p>\n
The bacteria develops in standing water within plumbing or in the ground and can sicken people using drinking fountains, showers and faucets. People who inhale the mist-borne bacteria can become ill, but the disease is not contagious.<\/p>\n
Twelve faucets at the sheriff\u2019s administration building were tested by state officials and six were positive for Legionella. The building was closed Friday and Monday while the water system was sanitized and water filters installed.<\/p>\n
Results from the remaining six faucets have not been received by the county. The tests can take up to two weeks, according to county spokesman Bill Mullan.<\/p>\n
Faucets at the courthouse and other buildings are being tested after a person diagnosed with Legionnaire\u2019s disease in April listed the courthouse at 1200 N. Telegraph Road in Pontiac as one of several places they had visited. The building holds the commissioners auditorium and offices, as well as prosecutor\u2019s, the clerk\u2019s and treasurer\u2019s offices, among other departments.<\/p>\n
Mullan said the county ordered 44 0.2-micron filters, which are not available locally, for courthouse faucets but severe weather delayed the shipment. The filters cost $300 each; the county paid $14,000 for the shipment of an estimated 40. He said the intent was to have filters in place before the county commissioners\u2019 Thursday evening meeting.<\/p>\n
County health and facilities managers are working with the county\u2019s industrial hygiene consultant to develop a routine water-testing plan, Mullan said, adding that the tests need to follow state and federal standards, which includes testing done by qualified personnel. The consultant contract is with the county\u2019s risk-management department, which is managed by executive appointee Diana McBroom.<\/p>\n
In a Dec. 6 email to county employees, McBroom said that nationwide reports of Legionella infections have increased in recent years for a number of reasons, including climate change and a heightened awareness of the illness.<\/p>\n
McBroom\u2019s email noted that people with compromised immune systems could be at greater risk than others and urged anyone with a severe upper respiratory illness or pneumonia-like symptoms to seek medical attention and inform doctors or nurses if they are concerned about Legionnaire\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
McBroom asked anyone diagnosed with the disease to alert the county\u2019s risk management office, which would \u201csupport employee inquiries on a case-by-case basis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other tips she offered included cleaning any personal air humidifiers and using an N-100 facemask to filter out Legionella bacteria. She said the county would provide those masks to \u201cemployees whose job duties put them at particular risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legionnaire\u2019s symptoms can include cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches and shortness of breath. Other symptoms such as confusion, diarrhea or nausea may also occur. Antibiotics are used to treat the bacterial infection. A less-severe illness caused by Legionella, called Pontiac fever, has similar but milder symptoms.<\/p>\n
County officials encouraged people with questions to call the Oakland Connects Helpline, formerly known as the Nurse on Call line, at (800) 848-5533.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oakland County does not have a routine water-testing program for its 45 buildings where 5,300 employees work. County…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[47285,47284,143,904,50358,145,144],"class_list":["post-90770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-legionella","tag-legionnaires-disease","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-county","tag-oakland-county-health-department","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90770","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=90770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}