The Veterans Affairs Hospital System in Prescott will be decontaminating its water system this weekend after finding high levels of the legionella germ in their main clinic building. The contaminant can cause Legionnaires’ disease after prolonged exposure.
The positive samples were discovered in mid-October. They were found after a routine quarterly test at the at the Prescott facility.
Steven Black is an industrial hygienist with the VA. He said the offending samples came from areas that aren’t used for patient care.
"The main purpose of the building that we found the samples is outpatient services so the risk is very low for those people," Black said.
Legionella occurs naturally in most water systems. It’s one of the most common causes of waterborne illness.
