Oklahoma Health Officials Confirm Bacterial Outbreak

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ At least 13 people who stayed at an Oklahoma City hotel last week have tested positive for the bacteria that can cause Legionnaire's disease, state health officials said. <br><br>Interim

Monday, March 22nd 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ At least 13 people who stayed at an Oklahoma City hotel last week have tested positive for the bacteria that can cause Legionnaire's disease, state health officials said.

Interim State Epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley said two people were hospitalized and more than 50 reported flu-like symptoms after staying at the Comfort Suites at Interstate 40 and Meridian in Oklahoma City.

Those who reported the illness were visiting the state last week for the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championship.

One group from Houston and another with players, coaches and family members from Michigan and Indiana stayed at the hotel, Bradley said.

``We have a pretty extensive environmental investigation going on at the hotel,'' she said.

Health officials in Montgomery County and Texas have confirmed a lower number of those testing positive for legionnella pneumophilia bacteria.

Test results in most cases have not been completed, with more confirmations likely on Tuesday, said Dr. Herbert DuPont, chief of internal medicine at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston.

Dr. Herbert DuPont chief of internal medicine at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, told the Houston Chronicle that the symptoms reported by most patients at the St. Luke's facility in The Woodlands appeared to fit those of Pontiac fever _ a relatively mild, flulike illness of short duration caused by the same bacteria that cause Legionnaires' disease.

Bradley said it appears those who came down with the illness were exposed at the hotel's pool and hot tub recreational area, which has been closed to the public since Saturday.

``We feel that this has been a successful public health intervention and do not see any evidence of ongoing risk at this time,'' Bradley said.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Mike Crutcher said the diseases that can result from the bacterial infection include Legionnaire's disease, a severe infection in which persons develop pneumonia, and Pontiac fever. Crutcher said the symptoms reported by those who have become ill include a rapid onset of fever, chills, fatigue, headache and muscle aches, without pneumonia, leading officials to believe all of the cases are Pontiac fever.

``We're clearly seeing Pontiac fever here,'' Crutcher said.

Dr. Paul Dungan, director of the Oklahoma City-County Health Department, said all public pools in Oklahoma County are routinely examined by health inspectors. He said the pool area at the Comfort Suites received a full evaluation last October, but that the chemicals used to clean and sanitize the pool may have not been measured properly.

``The indications that we have at the present time are that some of the chemicals were imbalanced,'' Dungan said.

A telephone call to the Comfort Suites was referred to a hotel employee, who declined to comment.

Crutcher said the legionellosis infection is acquired by inhaling mists from a water source that contains Legionella bacteria and cannot be spread from person to person. About nine cases of legionellosis are reported each year in Oklahoma, Crutcher said.

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Anyone who stayed at the hotel from March 12 to the present who develop fever and respiratory symptoms should contact the Oklahoma State Department of Health at (405) 271-4060.