Muncie Hospital Responds To Case Of Legionnaires' Disease

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital is taking precautions after discovering a patient with Legionnaires' disease late last week.

Chief medical officer and vice president for operations Jeffrey Bird tells The (Muncie) Star Press that the Muncie facility on Sunday shut down its water system and spent about eight hours treating it. He says the hospital plans to limit showers to specified ones equipped with special filters and restrict water use in public restrooms until it receives test results from water samples.

Bird notes that it's not clear whether the Legionnaires' case came from the hospital's water supply, but it's being cautious because of the risk to patients with weakened immune systems.

Legionnaires' disease is a serious lung infection caused by bacteria that's commonly found in public water supplies.