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QUINCY, Ill. (AP) — The Latest on Gov. Bruce Rauner's visit to the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy after state officials reported two residents have new cases of Legionnaires' disease (all times local):
11:50 a.m.
Gov. Bruce Rauner says the state's doing everything possible to reduce the risk of further contamination by legionella bacteria at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy.
Rauner visited the home Wednesday, a day after state officials reported two residents have new cases of Legionnaires' disease.
The Quincy Herald-Whig reports Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Nirav Shah said at a news conference that both affected residents have been treated and released from a hospital.
Last year, Legionnaires' disease sickened 53 people and led to 12 deaths at the home. The cases the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs disclosed Tuesday come less than a month after a nearly $5 million water treatment plant and delivery system was unveiled at the facility. The legionella bacteria can be inhaled in water vapor.
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This story has been corrected to show the first name of the Illinois Department of Public Health director is Nirav, not Nirva.
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9:30 a.m.
Gov. Bruce Rauner is scheduled to visit the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy a day after state officials reported two residents have new cases of Legionnaires' disease.
Last year, Legionnaires' disease sickened 53 people and led to 12 deaths at the home. The cases the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs disclosed Tuesday come less than a month after a nearly $5 million water treatment plant and delivery system was unveiled at the facility. The bacteria that cause the disease can be inhaled in water vapor.
Rauner's schedule says the governor was to visit the western Illinois facility Wednesday morning and receive an update on water treatment there.
Federal officials have previously said the bacteria that cause the disease were likely spread by an aging water system at the 129-year-old facility.
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