By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

In a follow-up with the Legionnaires’ disease situation in North Carolina, state health officials are reporting a case of Legionnaires’ disease in a person who did not attend the Mountain State Fair but was present at the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center (WNC Ag Center) after the fair ended. This person attended the Quilt Show held at the WNC Ag Center Sept. 27–29.

North Carolina map/ National Atlas of the United States

To date, this is the only case of Legionnaires’ disease in an individual who did not attend the NC Mountain State Fair but was at the WNC Ag Center after the fair ended on Sept. 15.

“We don’t know how or where this person might have been exposed to the Legionella bacteria,” said Dr. Zack Moore, State Epidemiologist. “It is possible that they were exposed at the WNC Ag Center, but Legionella bacteria are very common in the environment so we can’t rule out exposure in another location.”

Public health officials are continuing to monitor for new cases of Legionnaires’ disease and have not identified any other reports in people who were at the WNC Ag Center after the Mountain State Fair ended.

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Health officials visited the WNC Ag Center on Sept. 25 and 27 and did not identify any significant sources of aerosolized water. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDACS) suspended the rental of the Davis Event Center at the WNC Ag Center for mitigation activities after Legionella bacteria were found in one of six samples. Out of an abundance of caution, NCDACS recommended and supervised an extensive industrial cleaning of the WNC Ag Center water system. Legionella was not found in follow-up testing of samples collected on Oct. 4 and 7.