Allegheny General Hospital Expands Testing For Legionella Bacteria

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Pittsburgh hospital has expanded testing for the bacteria that cause Legionnaire's disease after finding it in two water tanks earlier this month.

Dan Laurent, a spokesman for Allegheny Health Network, tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the county health department recommended the expanded testing at Allegheny General Hospital.

The hospital tested its water after a cancer patient treated for a respiratory ailment last month was found to have the disease and was readmitted with breathing problems later in the month.

Hospital officials don't believe that patient contracted Legionnaire's because of the hospital's water supply, but tests found the bacteria in a water tank serving its main inpatient facility and another tank in its outpatient cancer center.

Patients are being given bottled water, and those with compromised immune systems are being told not to bathe.

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