ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia that can be deadly.
Florida health officials said there are more than a dozen confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Orange County.
WFTV learned this from an email sent by health officials to a state senator.
The Florida Department of Health said in the email to Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith that all 14 cases were tied to “gym exposure” but, so far, had not released any specific source.
The Orange County Health Department did not confirm how many possible sources of the illness it was investigating.
Channel 9’s Ashlyn Webb broke the story in late November that Crunch Fitness on East Silver Star Road in Ocoee said it closed sections of its gym for testing.
“It’s frustrating because we shouldn’t have to wait for a state senator to formally request information about a major outbreak of a disease like Legionnaires’ in order to get that information,” Smith said.
“The Florida Department of Health needs to be more transparent,” he added.
This comes a week after Channel 9 began asking health officials about a possible outbreak, following a Crunch Fitness member’s hospitalization. An official said all cases were linked to gym exposure but did not name any specific facility or location.
“I think that the more people (my constituents and local residents) know that, at minimum, this is the suspected site of where this Legionnaires’ outbreak has actually initiated and started, that they need to arm themselves with that information so that they can protect themselves and their families,” Smith said.
Crunch Fitness told Eyewitness News that the Health Department had not informed the business of a “confirmed link” between their facility and any reported illness,” but “out of an abundance of caution,” it was conducting “thorough water testing” of its pool and spa systems through “certified third party specialists.”
We spoke to Dr. Nelson Medina, a board-certified doctor in pulmonary medicine and critical care, about the symptoms to look out for.
“Fever, respiratory problems, and then one of the things that can happen is a lot of nausea and vomiting, and then can come confusion,” Medina said.
Medina said Legionnaires’ disease does not spread from person to person like other forms of pneumonia; it spreads through water particles. It can be through air conditioning cooling towers on large buildings, showers, or stagnant water.
Medina said it’s important to know the source of the illness.
“We have to back trace. And is there is a location now? Are there multiple locations? Could be, but usually it tends to be one place,” Medina said.
It was Tuesday when Orange County Government first posted on social media of a possible Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. That was nearly a week after Channel 9 began reporting about it, and a week after Webb began asking questions to Florida health officials.
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