File – This presentation photo shows the reflection of health workers in a hospital corridor. (Ted S. Warren / AP Photo)
TO Newsroom
UPDATED 07:43 PT – Friday, January 8, 2021
Portland officials are investigating a deadly outbreak of legionnaires’ disease in a parental home. The multnomah county health department said Tuesday one person was killed and four others were taken to Rosemont Court.
Officials are requesting the more than 100 other residents to move temporarily after a number of people at the facility reported symptoms. The request is from an abundance of caution as legionnaires’ disease, which is a more serious form of pneumonia, is not particularly contagious.
“The good news is that it is not passed on from person to person,” said Dr. Jennifer Vines of Multnomah County Health explains. “It usually comes from some water source where water content has been interrupted.”
Some residents at Rosemont Court in N Portland are temporarily relocating after 4 people became ill with the disease Legionnaires.
“Legionnaires’ disease is a bacterial infection caused by bacteria called Legionella, which is usually spread from a water source,” said Dr. Vines said.@KOINNuus pic.twitter.com/WnQsTXlWFf
– Jacquelyn Abad (@JacquelynAbadTV) 6 January 2021
Officials said more than 20 residents had already left the house, while others decided to stay put. Meanwhile, the health department said it was working with building managers to address the water system, which has been identified as the likely source of the outbreak.