Florida health officials now say 14 confirmed recent cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Central Florida are known to have had “gym exposure.”
The Health Department provided the information Tuesday about the respiratory disease — a “serious pneumonia” which is often mild but potentially deadly — to state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, who sought details prompted by Orlando Sentinel reporting.
The reply to Smith did not identify the gym by name, but said the facility had been inspected and a spa had been closed.
In separate interviews with the Sentinel and WFTV, two patrons of Crunch Fitness, a workout facility at 1560 E. Silver Star Road in Ocoee, said they fell ill after workouts there.
The Sentinel reported those incidents Monday, noting that the state had sent an advisory to health care providers of an increase in local Legionella infections, but health department officials would not answer any questions, reinforcing confusion about the scope of the outbreak.
“Crunch Fitness is not aware of any facts linking our Ocoee, Florida location to the reported Legionella cases,” Kendall Lanese, a spokesperson for CR Fitness Holdings, said in an email Tuesday to the Orlando Sentinel. “We have not received any formal notification from the Health Department regarding any confirmed cases or findings at our facility.”
Lanese said the gym is “committed to maintaining a safe environment for our members.” The fitness center was open Tuesday.
The information provided to Smith from the state also noted:
“An environmental assessment was conducted at the facility to evaluate conditions potentially contributing to the outbreak. This included testing disinfectant levels, temperature and pH (acidity) of plumbing outlets and spa. Water and swab samples for Legionella testing were collected (results pending at the Bureau of Public Health Laboratories). A regulatory inspection of the pool and spa was conducted which led to the closure of the spa due to violations.”
The alleged spa violations were not specified.
The state did not advise Smith of any additional cases beyond those with gym exposure.
Legionella bacteria, which thrives in warm, stagnant water, is not transmitted person-to-person but may be transmitted by airborne water particles or vapors that are inhaled.
A 45-year-old woman from Ocoee who works out with her husband at Crunch Fitness on Silver Star Road several times a week told the Sentinel she was admitted for four days at Orlando Health’s Health Central hospital during the weekend before Thanksgiving. A CT scan revealed pneumonia in both her lungs, she said.
Her symptoms included a fever of 105.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, said hospital staff told her they suspected she had Legionnaires’ because they had seen seven other patients with the condition who had recently worked out at the same gym.
She said she had not used the fitness center’s spa or pool.
Legionnaires’s disease was so named after a lung infection caused by a bacterium identified as the cause of pneumonia that killed 29 people in 1976 at an American Legion Convention in Philadelphia.
More recently, outbreaks have reported on cruise ships.
Most affected persons experience symptoms — which can include a cough, shortness of breath and high fever — about five to six days after exposure. However, the risk of serious impacts is considered low for most people.
About 6,000 Legionnaires’ disease cases are reported each year in the United States, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Scientists have theorized the disease is underreported because distinguishing Legionnaires’ from other types of pneumonia is difficult.
State health data shows Orange County has had 59 confirmed cases of Legionellosis in 2025, including 11 in the first three weeks of November, compared to 48 in 2024. Those 2025 totals do not appear to include all of the cases linked to the local gym.