Toronto Public Health has confirmed nine cases of Legionnaires’ disease
But risk to the public is low, according to the city health agency
Toronto Public Health is investigating an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which can potentially become fatal.
The city health agency told CP24 that the cases, understood to be linked, were identified in March and April in the southeastern area of the city, and that the source is not known.
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“Public health officials have inspected the area for potential exposures, collected samples from possible sources in proximity to the cases, and collaborated with other city divisions, local public health units, and provincial and federal partners,” the agency said in a statement to the outlet, adding that the risk to the general public is low.
Legionella bacteria can be found in water systems which have not been well-maintained, such as cooling towers, hot tubs, sprinkler systems, humidifiers and fountains. Sickness can be caused by breathing in water droplets containing the bacteria.
Toronto Public Health noted that Legionnaires’ disease cannot be spread from person to person.
The province reported 354 cases of Legionnaires’ disease last year. Twenty-six of those cases were fatal.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
