Brandon Turbeville
January 18, 2016
As if Flint, Michigan needed more problems other than an economic depression which has left the city a virtual wasteland, Flint is now the scene of a massive poisoned water scandal that has seen lead flooding the city’s drinking water supplies. Now, on top of the water emergency, a sharp increase in Legionnaires’ disease is hitting the community.
State officials were forced to admit at a press conference on Wednesday that there was indeed an uptick in the cases of Legionnaires’ disease and that they have “yet to determine the cause of the disease.” Chief medical executive of the Michigan department of health and human services said that a more thorough analysis was in the works. Officials gave no new advice to Flint residents regarding their water usage in relation to the Legionnaires’ uptick. RT reports that “between June 2014 and November 2015, there were 87 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint, with 10 ending in death, according to Wells. The fatality rate for the disease ranges from 5-30% depending on access to antibiotics and other factors, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.”
As Kahlil AlHajal writes for MLive.com:
From June 2014 to March 2015, 45 cases of Legionella bacteria were confirmed in Genesee County, according to the state Health and Human Services Department Director Nick Lyon.
Seven of those cases were fatal.
From May 2015 to November 2015, 42 cases were confirmed in Genesee county.
Three of those were fatal.
As if Flint, Michigan needed more problems other than an economic depression which has left the city a virtual wasteland, Flint is now the scene of a massive poisoned water scandal that has seen lead flooding the city’s drinking water supplies. Now, on top of the water emergency, a sharp increase in Legionnaires’ disease is hitting the community.
State officials were forced to admit at a press conference on Wednesday that there was indeed an uptick in the cases of Legionnaires’ disease and that they have “yet to determine the cause of the disease.” Chief medical executive of the Michigan department of health and human services said that a more thorough analysis was in the works. Officials gave no new advice to Flint residents regarding their water usage in relation to the Legionnaires’ uptick. RT reports that “between June 2014 and November 2015, there were 87 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Flint, with 10 ending in death, according to Wells. The fatality rate for the disease ranges from 5-30% depending on access to antibiotics and other factors, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.”
As Kahlil AlHajal writes for MLive.com:
From June 2014 to March 2015, 45 cases of Legionella bacteria were confirmed in Genesee County, according to the state Health and Human Services Department Director Nick Lyon.
Seven of those cases were fatal.
From May 2015 to November 2015, 42 cases were confirmed in Genesee county.
Three of those were fatal.
