Health officials praised the hotel’s owner and management for their quick response to the crisis and efforts to disinfect the water supply and system in the 54-story, 677-unit building opened in December 2008.A study by the Miami-Dade County Health Department released Tuesday found seven confirmed and three “probable” cases of people who contracted the water-borne Legionnaires’ disease after staying at the luxurious Epic Hotel and Residences last fall.
In addition, one man, a 57-year-old tourist from England, died in November.
Seven of the ill hotel guests have fully recovered and three others are in the process of recovering, county officials said. One of the guests was from Germany and another from Spain.
None were Miami-Dade residents.
The only connection between the tourists is that they stayed at the Epic Hotel, health officials said.
Their complex investigation focused on the water at the hotel and condominium development at 270 Biscayne Blvd. Way in downtown Miami.
While county health officials said they were not able to prove “100 percent” that the filtered water at the hotel caused the disease, Legionella bacteria was found in 23 of 25 cultures collected by the hotel’s contractor. Similar results were found in the health department samples.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/01/1801654/study-links-legionnaires-cases.html#ixzz0yI5crfY9
