Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak in north Portland worsens, sends another person to hospital
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PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) — Another person is in the hospital with Legionnaire’s Disease after an outbreak was first reported at a North Portland apartment complex on Monday.
“Honestly just afraid and concerned,” Ann Negosh, who lives near Rosemont Court, said about the outbreak.
In just the last three days, five people have been hospitalized with Legionnaire’s Disease. One of those people has died.
“Almost all of the cases are from Rosemont Court. There is one, an individual who spent time in an adjacent location to Rosemont Court,” Multnomah County Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Vines said.
The main outbreak is at Rosemont Court Apartments in the water, according to health officials. Now we’ve learned the fifth person to be hospitalized didn’t live in the building, according to Vines.
“This case does not appear to be linked to Rosemont Court, but a lot of analysis, detailed interviews, looking at water systems to try to explain this one case. I will just say sometimes in an outbreak, there are cases we have a hard time explaining,” Vines said.
While the newest hospitalization is someone who didn’t live at the Rosemont Court Apartments, Multnomah County Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Vines said there’s no pattern to indicate there’s a concern outside the apartments.
Many neighbors still wondered if they should be concerned, especially after receiving a letter from the county telling them what the disease is and how they can lower the risk of Legionella in their own home.
“It can cause flu-like symptoms and can progress to a lung infection or pneumonia, especially in people who are older or who have certain underlying health conditions,” Vines said. “It’s simple things like raising the temperature of your water at home, keeping your aerators clean, basic maintenance on your internal plumbing.”
At this time, Vines said they’re still investigating how that fifth person was exposed.
Northwest Housing Alternatives owns the Rosemont Court Apartments. They put a statement on their website addressing the outbreak:
“We are working with Multnomah County and the City’s Water Bureau to identify how the bacteria entered the building’s water system; and to determine what measures need to be taken to ensure that the water supply and the water systems of the building are safe before residents return to their homes”
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