The Cook County Department of Public Health is investigating six recent cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Orland Park and Tinley Park.
Five people in Tinley Park and one person in Orland Park have been found to have the disease, a naturally occurring virus typically transmitted through water, Public Health Department spokesman Sean McDermott said.
Three of the five people who contracted the disease over the last three weeks visited a grocery near 160th Street and Harlem Avenue in Orland Park, where investigators have tested a misting system the store uses to spray its produce, McDermott said.
He said they do not yet have confirmation that the misting system is the source and said the department is testing other potential sources.
“All of the cases that have been diagnosed have been successfully treated, and the people have been released from area hospitals,” McDermott said.
The disease’s symptoms include high fever, muscle aches, coughing and headaches and can progress to a potentially fatal form of pneumonia, he said. Middle-age people and seniors are most prone to contract the disease.
The county has reported 30 cases of the disease so far this year, a much higher number than the 15 or so that usually occur within a 5-year period, McDermott said. Anyone experiencing symptoms should visit their doctor immediately, he said.
Chicago Tribune
