Moncton woman hospitalized by legionnaires' disease seeks answers about source

Claudette Lirettewants to know the origin of thelegionellabacteria that put her in hospital and in an induced coma for five days in July.

Liretteis one of 16 peoplePublic Health officials say became sick with the severe form ofpneumonia as part of an outbreak in Moncton that began in mid-July and was declared over this week. The illnesscan be deadly.

"I don't find it's right,"Lirette, 53, said in an interview. "People should have a right to know where it's coming from."

Dr. Yves Lger, the regional medical officer of health, said the government knows where the outbreak began, but there's"no benefit to the public" in revealing it.

At a news conference Thursday, he said the cooling tower that caused the outbreak was shut down and cleaned Aug. 13.The only information releasedis that it originated in a cooling tower atop a company's buildingin western Moncton.

Others who got sick also expressed frustration with the lack of answers, but they declined to be interviewed. At least one is in talks with a law firm and considering taking legal action, CBCNews has confirmed.

In place of actual information, speculation has run rampant.

Those who fell ill and family membershave begun talking to each other trying to pinpoint asource.

"It's ridiculous that we have to do it ourselves," Lirette said.

RobertDeMone, her brother-in-law, agreed.

"If the province thinks this isover, and they're going to tell us we don't need to know, they can guess again," DeMone said. Pointing toLirette, he said "somebody owes her an explanation."

"I can appreciate their perspective and I appreciate their feelings, especially if they were part of those 16 that were affectedand I feel for that absolutely,"Lger told reporters. "But, you know, the main message that I come back to is really, if there was a need to provide that information to protect the publicwe would do that.

"But at this point in time we don't feel that that's necessary and there are risks and benefits to doing that which come into play."

He has said providing the location could result in "anxiety" and people changing their plans to avoid the site, which he said no longer poses a risk to the public. He offered a similar answer when asked if people shouldn't be allowed to decide for themselves.

Lirette, who lives near Killam Drive in Moncton,doesn't remember much from late July.

Her legs were weak and she had signs of a cold. She passed out on her way to thewashroom the night ofJuly 19.She was placed in an induced coma at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre.

"They told me I was sick and lucky to be alive,"Lirettesaid.

She's recovering since her release from hospital July 29but still gets tired easily and can't stay up long. It's "scary" not knowing where the bacteria that sickened her came from, she said.

Legionella bacteria are present in many natural waterways. Improperly maintained man-made water systems, such as air conditioners, cooling towers, whirlpools, spas and decorative fountains, are often the source of legionnaires'outbreaks.

Cooling towers are a heat-removal device onmany commercial and industrial buildings where, under certain conditions, the bacteria can thrive and be released into the surrounding environment.

The illness doesn't spread from person to personbut throughinhaling mist that containsthe bacteria.

"It gets released in the environment and then the winds can pick it up and spread it many, many kilometres, which can explain why we've seen cases spread out across the city,"Lgertold Information Morning Moncton on Aug. 23.

"The risk isn't specifically at that site, but it's across the city as a whole," he said.

Officials interviewed those who became ill and focused on 26 possible locations with cooling towers in Monctonafter consulting with municipal officials.

That was narrowed to six sites, and then one suspected source. Testing confirmed the bacteria at that site matchedthe bacteria found in samples from two of thepeople who became ill.

Officials in several other provinces said they would share where an outbreak starts if an action is required to ensure public safety.

"In the event of a cluster of legionnaires' being linked to a particular building, we would disclose the location of that building if there was a purpose for releasing that information," said Kaitlyn Abel, a spokesperson for theSaskatchewan Health Ministry.

In Newfoundland, Tina Newhook said the province'sPromotion of Public Health Act sets out that if the chief medical health officer believes there's a serious risk to public health, they mustimmediately take reasonable steps to disclose the nature and source of a risk.

In Quebec City, public health officials revealed the sourceof a2012 legionnaires' outbreak thatkilled 13 people and sickened about 180otherswas a cooling tower ona five-storey building.

Rgis Labeaume, Quebec City's mayor, expressed indignation that steps had not been taken to prevent such an outbreak after one in his city in 1996.

A 1997 reportcalled for Quebec tocreate a registry of buildings with cooling towers in their ventilation systemsso an outbreak could be quicklyisolated. It also called for tougher regulations for inspecting and maintaining the towers.

A coroner's report also saidthe 2012 Quebec City outbreak was preventable.

"Despite outbreaks of legionellosis that occurred in the past, adequate controls were not in place and the public health authorities in Quebec did not have the necessary tools to effectively manage the crisis," thereport stated.

Quebecimplemented a cooling tower registry and other regulations.

New Brunswick doesn't have a similar system, something DeMone said shouldbe done following the Moncton outbreak. He said the outbreak raises a number of questions about whether proper maintenance was carried out and the rules in place in the province to prevent outbreaks.

Lgersaid now that the outbreak is over, public health officials will review what happened andwrite a report withrecommendations.

He said a registry of cooling towers could be one of the recommendations.