Legionnaires' Disease Sends Inmate At San Quentin To Hospital
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The water has been shut off at California's oldest prison after an inmate was hospitalized with a confirmed case of Legionnaires' disease, officials said Friday.
At least 16 other San Quentin State Prison inmates are in outside hospitals with symptoms of the disease, which is considered a severe type of pneumonia, said Dana Simas, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
They are being tested to confirm the disease as prison and Marin County health officials search for the cause.
"They've been taken out for cautionary purposes," Simas said. "None are gravely ill."
Symptoms typically include high fever, chills and a cough.
Water for the prison's more than 3,700 inmates was shut off Thursday after the initial case was confirmed, and it will stay off until the source is found, she said.
A recent outbreak that sickened 128 people and killed 12 in New York City was traced by the city's health commissioner to a Bronx hotel's rooftop air conditioning unit.
Legionella bacteria grow in water and spread through water molecules, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacteria can cause a mild infection known as Pontiac fever or the more serious infection known as Legionnaires' disease.
The disease occurs when contaminated water is inhaled into the lungs. It is considered particularly dangerous for older people and those with underlying health issues.
Once officials identify the source, they generally use higher-than-normal levels of chlorine to kill the bacteria.
Prison officials are bringing in portable toilets, bottled water for drinking and large water tanks. Simas could not immediately say how many are needed for thousands of inmates nor how much the emergency measures will cost.
None of the prison's more than 1,200 employees have been sickened.
The prison's water comes from the Marin Municipal Water District and is stored in a prison water tank that can hold about 3 million gallons, Simas said.
Marin Municipal Water District officials could not immediately be reached, but Marin County health officials said the general outside public was not at risk. They also said the disease is not spread from person to person.
State environmental health officials were checking the prison's water supply on Friday, county officials said.
"Their emergency response planning at the prison seems to have paid off very well," Dr. Bob Benjamin, Marin County's deputy public health officer, said through a spokesman. "They mobilized this in the middle of the night very quickly."
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.