MONCTON —
Six cases of legionnaires’ disease have broken out in the Moncton area and New Brunswick Public Health says it is meticulously investigating the root of it.
“Each case requires many hours of detailed investigation work to try and identify any possible sources for their infection. In a case where we have a number of cases reported to us and where we’re looking for or we’re considering an outbreak, we’re looking for anything that’s common between them,” said Dr. Yves Leger, New Brunswick regional medical officer of health.
It’s a serious respiratory disease that can result in pneumonia and it’s caused by bacteria in water.
At this time there have been no common links determined between the cases, meaning there has been no one source narrowed down.
“While we’re still waiting on further information at this point in time certainly the main source, the main hypothesis in my mind is likely a contaminated cooling tower,” Leger said.
Those most at risk for the disease are individuals who are over the age of 50, those who have pre-existing medical conditions such as chronic lung disease, smokers, diabetics, or a suppressed immune system.
In 2019, a previous legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Moncton was linked to a cooling tower and a class action lawsuit has just filed their statements of claim.
“The department of health was not forthcoming with respect to the source of the 2019 contamination so that was something that became known to the public through a combination of materials,” said Lyndsay Jardine, who is representing the class action with Wagners Law Firm.
Jardine says all her clients from the 2019 outbreak have had lasting effects.
“We were fortunate in 2019 to be able to find the source which is not always the case in these types of investigations. But certainly, if we do believe there is a common source and we do find it, I think we’ll have to consider the pros and cons of releasing that information,” said Leger.
There is legally no standard of upkeep required for cooling tower owner-operators to maintain their units to prevent legionellosis outbreak.
“There are a number of companies out there that are experienced in that kind of work, but at this point in time there are no provincial or national requirements legal or otherwise to do that work,” he said.
Dr. Leger says they are considering an unidentified contaminated cooling tower to be the most likely source and remind their owners and operators to maintain them.
