New Mexico hotel pool closed after 2 guests contract Legionnaire’s disease

by Melanie Nayer on

Our friends at USA Today are reporting the Best Western hotel in downtown Socorro, N.M., had to close its pool after health authorities found two people who stayed there contracted Legionnaire’s disease.

While the New Mexico health department continues to investigate whether or not the pool is the source of the problem, it’s important to point out a few things about Legionnaires:

While the cases are rare, they are severe. Legionnaire’s disease is an acute respiratory infection usually contracted from infected water that is breathed in or ingested.

Back in December, the Kimpton’s EPIC hotel in Miami was shut down when the local health department suspected the same type of problem in the hotel’s drinking water. In that case, one of the guests with Legionnaire’s disease had died but in the end, the hotel was given the all-clear by health officials and it was determined that the hotel was not the carrier of Legionnaires.

Meanwhile in New Mexico, the Best Western remains open while its pool and spa areas go through a cleaning process, including a thorough inspection of the hotel’s water system.

[via USA Today]

EPIC Hotel’s water cleared in Legionnaire’s case

by Melanie Nayer on

The water at the EPIC Hotel in Miami has been cleared by the health department, allowing the Miami hotel to reopen and rebook guests.

The EPIC was forced to close and relocate guests two weeks ago after three cases of Legionnaires’ disease — including one death — were discovered from guests who stayed at the hotel.

According to the Miami Herald, the Miami-Dade County Health Department officials said they couldn’t be certain that EPIC was the cause of the death or illnesses, and they will continue to investigate the situation. The department of health conducted a series of tests on the hotel’s water filtration system and it was found clean and safe for drinking on Saturday. The health investigation did discover, however, that the hotel’s filtration system may have been stripping chlorine out of its water, which would have made the system susceptible to waterborne diseases.

During the course of the investigation, the EPIC underwent a major cleaning effort including removing and sanitizing all shower fixtures and installing a new copper-silver ionization filtration system, which is said to disinfect the water and prevent the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease.


[via Miami Herald]