Health officials should learn this week where two Barren County residents recently contracted Legionnaires disease.
Teresa Casey is the Communicable Disease Coordinator for the Barren River District Health Department. She says water samples taken from a potential source are being tested in a lab in Louisville. She declined to name the facility, which she says voluntarily shut down its pool and hot tub.
"Legionnaires Disease is a bacteria naturally found in an environment usually in water sources," Casey tells WKU Public Radion. "It prefers warmer waters, so hot tubs, sprinkler systems, public fountains can be sources of Legionnaires Disease."
Casey says those with a weakened immune system are most likely to get sick from the bacteria, which can be deadly. Symptoms include fever, cough, chills, and most often results in pneumonia. Legionnaires Disease is treated with antibiotics and cannot be transmitted between people.
