Regional medical officer of health Dr. Yves Leger (Image by RL)
The outbreak of legionnaires’ disease in the Greater Moncton region is likely due to a contaminated cooling tower, according to Public Health.
The Regional medical health officer, Dr. Yves Leger, provided an update on the outbreak on Monday afternoon. Leger stated that a lack of commonalities between cases leads him to believe a cooling tower is to blame.
Public Health declared an outbreak on August 6 after six cases were discovered over two weeks. There are now seven known cases with individuals ranging in age from mid-’20s to 90s. Leger said two individuals are hospitalized, including one in an intensive care unit.
Five samples from patients were cultured in a lab and sent to the Quebec public health lab. These tests will determine if the bacteria in all cases are the same. Leger expects these results by the end of the week.
An evaluation of travel and wind patterns lead Public Health to focus on the western part of the city.
“This area is similar to the one targeted in 2019; However, it is larger as well,” said Leger.
In 2019 the Greater Moncton region experienced a legionnaires’ disease outbreak with a total of 16 cases.
Using a list of cooling towers established during the last outbreak, Public Health identified 11 locations that required a polymerase chain reaction test.
“This gives a rough count of any legionella bacteria present in the sample but will not differentiate if they are live or dead bacteria,” said Leger.
According to Leger, out of 11 sites sampled, 23 cooling towers we’re identified, nine sites had a presence of some levels of bacteria, including two sites with levels that required cleaning and disinfection.
”These results do not confirm the source of our outbreak as we expect to find some legionella bacteria in some of the cooling towers sampled,” said Leger
“We still need to wait for bacteria to grow in culture and conduct typing to see if these are exactly the same bacteria as the ones in our patient.”
The Regional medical health officer believes these results could be available by next week.
During the outbreak in 2019, Public Health did not release the location of the cooling tower responsible for 16 cases of legionnaires disease; however, it remains unclear Public Health will follow the same approach for the latest outbreak.
“If we are able to identify the source of our outbreak and confirm it, it is premature for me at this point in time to confirm whether or not we will release that information publicly,” said Leger.
Public Health will continue to sample cooling towers in the region until a cause is determined. Leger stated samples will be taken from seven sites in the northeastern part of the city and 11 in the downtown core.
