(CNN) – A deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at a North Carolina state fair is now responsible for killing two people, state health officials announced Thursday. Authorities are not publicly identifying the deceased. Health officials have confirmed 134 cases of Legionnaires’ disease, an airborne lung infection, or Pontiac Fever, a milder form of the disease, in residents of multiple states who attended last month’s NC Mountain State Fair in Fletcher, North Carolina. Eighty-eight people have been hospitalized. Health
officials’ interim report suggested that exposure to the Legionella bacteria occurred in one event center at the state fair, “particularly near the hot tubs and during the last five days of the fair,” which went from September 6-15. There were no other significant sources of aerosolized water — small droplets of water or mist that can be inhaled — at the event center, and no other ongoing potential sources of exposure identified, the health department said. “Hot tubs are a well-established source of aerosolized water exposure and have been associated with previous Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks nationally and internationally,” READ MORE
