ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Crunch Fitness in Ocoee has released Florida Department of Health test results to Channel 9, showing no signs of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease in the gym.
The update comes as health officials continue investigating how at least 14 people in Orange County contracted the illness.
Channel 9 first broke the story of a possible Legionnaires’ outbreak last Wednesday.
According to an email sent by a state health official to State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith, all 14 confirmed cases are linked to gym exposure.
On Thursday, we learned the state alerted Orange County health providers about the increase in cases and advised them of how the disease is contracted.
The new results from Crunch Fitness raise further questions about where people may be contracting the disease.
Crunch Fitness told Channel 9 last week that parts of the facility were temporarily closed for testing. Health officials took 20 samples from locations where Legionella bacteria are typically found, including the spa system, showers, hot water heaters, water fountains, sinks, and the building’s exterior water main.
All samples came back with “no growth of Legionella pneumophila,” according to results Crunch Fitness shared.
However, the records do not indicate whether the facility’s air-conditioning cooling tower was tested, which we’re told by doctors can be a potential source that harbors the bacteria.
So far, the Florida Department of Health has not said whether other facilities are under investigation. Florida DOH spokesperson Kent Donahue said in an email to 9 Investigates that information collected during epidemiological investigations is confidential under state law. The law cited says information will only be released “when necessary to public health.”
The Department did confirm it has conducted “an environmental assessment at a facility” and said that “as potential sources are investigated, locations are being disinfected and will continue to be monitored.”
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