Officials at a Batavia retirement facility where there was an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease are encouraged there have been no new cases recently.
Covenant Living at the Holmstad in a statement released Friday confirmed it has not had any new or suspected cases of the disease since Sept. 5 and no employees have been diagnosed with the ailment.
The facility had a total of 12 confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease. There were also two unrelated cases of the disease in Batavia, Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported.
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Legionnaires’ disease is a serious lung infection or pneumonia that people can get by breathing in small droplets of water containing Legionella bacteria, public health officials said.
The disease is similar to pneumonia with symptoms that include a cough, shortness of breath, fever, muscle aches and headaches. Symptoms can begin two to 10 days after someone is exposed to the bacteria.
Covenant Living is encouraged by test results from around the campus as well.
“The senior living community received sampling results on its cooling tower from the Illinois Department of Public Health which indicate living Legionella was not detected,” the statement said.
This finding mirrors results from water management consultants that also did testing alongside the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Covenant Living statement said.
Covenant Living has operated under the guidance of the Illinois Department of Public Health and Kane County Health Department during the outbreak, the retirement facility officials said.
“The strength of a community is tested at times like these. I have been grateful to see the best of who we are here at Covenant Living,” said Amanda Gosnell, Covenant Living executive director.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.