Local health officials have determined that a rare but low-risk strain of Legionnaires’ disease was responsible for an outbreak of pneumonia at the Lucas County Jobs and Family Services Building in July.

Dr. David Grossman, Toledo-Lucas County health commissioner, said Thursday that testing on blood taken from employees who got sick found a rare type of Legionnaires’ bacteria that had not previously caused an outbreak in Ohio or the country.

“This is the first case of this type of outbreak in the United States,” Dr. Grossman said. “Once again, Toledo gets to be No. 1, not necessarily something to be proud of, but something we actively took care of.”

Officials said the source of the contaminant was traced to the cooling system that circulates water through the Jobs and Family Services building at 3210 Monroe St.

County officials reached out to local and state health officials for help pinpointing the source of an outbreak in early July after 15 employees in the building were sickened with pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses.

Of the 15 workers, 11 were hospitalized and three were treated for pneumonia by their doctors. 

Blood testing was able to confirm the presence of Legionnaires’ bacterium in one person, Dr. Grossman said.

“We definitely can say it was an outbreak,” he said. “We feel scientifically, epidemiology, public health-wise, these other cases were probably the same thing.”

The sickened workers were in the same area of the same building and were exposed at the same time, he said.

He said recovery time for the workers has ranged from a few days to several weeks, but none of the cases has been fatal.

“It turns out this form was a mild form,” he said.

Sophia Lloyd, Jobs and Family Services executive director, said an outside contractor cleaned and sanitized the four-story building top to bottom on July 11. The cleaning included flushing, draining, and disinfecting the cooling tower system.

It is unknown whether any patrons who went to the building for services may have contracted the disease. The health department is asking anyone who visited the building between June 13 and Aug. 4 and are experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms to call 419-213-4216.

Ms. Lloyd said an average of 15,000 people a month go into the building for county services, including food and cash assistance and Medicaid enrollment.

As with all Legionnaires’ disease, the strain detected is contracted by breathing in contaminated mist or vapor. It cannot be transmitted from person to person.

Dr. Grossman said some of the affected workers who were hospitalized underwent the usual testing for Legionnaires’ disease, but the results were negative because the test is not effective for determining all strains.

Blood samples of three patients were tested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the results showed the presence of the Legionnaires’ strain in one sample, he said.

Dr. Grossman praised Ms. Lloyd and other county officials for taking quick action to hire outside experts to test for mold, dust, and other contaminants and cleanse and disinfect the building and the cooling system, which was later determined to be the source of the outbreak.

“I actually commend what was done here,” he said. “I can’t say enough about JFS. There was no lag.”

Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.

First Published September 4, 2015, 4:00 a.m.