Legionnaires’ Disease outbreak
With the recent Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Marshall County, it has been stated that cooling towers are the suspected source. The identity of the 10 cooling towers that have been chosen for testing has been kept a secret. I assume that this decision was to protect the image of these businesses and the potential economic impact, pending the results of testing. The lack of maintenance and cleaning on these cooling towers could affect the public health and should be treated like the inspections of restaurants and made public when there is a violation. Perhaps, cooling towers on public buildings should be tested on a regular basis to help prevent future outbreaks.