Legionnaires’ disease puts plumbing in the news on a frequent basis — in the worst way.
An outbreak in Flint, Michigan exacerbated the misery of the lead crisis, killing 12 people and sickening at least 87. In Illinois, an outbreak at a VA home in Quincy cost 14 veterans their lives and the state’s VA director her job. In December, a health official identified a Disneyland cooling tower as the likely source for 22 cases of the disease. If it feels like the outbreaks are becoming more common, it’s because they are. According to the Center for Disease Control, in the United States, the rate of reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease has grown by nearly five and-a-half times since 2000.