Officials Report Third Case of Legionnaires Disease at Illinois Veterans Home

A third person has contracted Legionnaires’ disease at a western Illinois veterans home where two other cases were identified last month, state officials said.

The Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported the latest case at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, where a 2015 outbreak of the disease killed 12 people and sickened more than 50 others.

“We’re glad the resident is doing well,” Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs spokesman Dave MacDonna told The Quincy Herald-Whig. “But we’re highly concerned. We’re following everything the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is telling us to do.”

The resident was diagnosed while being treated at a hospital over the weekend and since has been released, state officials said. Any resident at the home who displays symptoms is tested regularly and rigorously and hospitalized if symptoms continue to progress, MacDonna said.

“If there are any symptoms, we’re taking immediate action so we don’t have the most terrible thing happen,” he said.

The bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease grow in warm water and are often present in water supplies. The veterans home underwent a nearly $5 million rehabilitation of its water treatment plant after the 2015 outbreak. Three cases were reported at the home last year.