Possible cluster of Legionnaires' disease in Passaic/Bergen

The New Jersey Department of Health is recommending doctor visits for any residents and visitors of Bergen and Passaic County with certain symptoms, as officials investigate a possible cluster of Legionnaires' disease.

DOH on Thursday announced that it is aware of seven confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease, a type of pneumonia, in residents of neighboring municipalities across Passaic and Bergen counties. An additional report of a suspected case is under investigation.

The cases were reported to DOH between Nov. 9 and Dec. 21.

"The risk of Legionnaires' disease among any resident of, or recent visitor to, either Passaic or Bergen County is low," said DOH Commissioner Judith Persichilli.

But, DOH is recommending that individuals who live or work in these counties and become ill with pneumonia-like symptoms (fever, chills, cough, chest pain, muscle aches, headache, etc.) visit their health care provider immediately to be evaluated.

DOH says people should follow this recommendation for two weeks after visiting these counties, as it can take a while for symptoms of Legionnaires' disease to surface.

DOH alerted local health departments and health care providers earlier this month of the increased number of reported cases.

What is Legionnaires' disease?

Legionnaire's disease spread (Townsquare Media)

Legionnaires' disease is caused by the bacteria Legionella, but not all people who are exposed to Legionella develop the disease.

According to DOH, people over the age of 50, especially those who smoke or have chronic health conditions or weakened immune systems, are at increased risk.

People can get the disease by breathing in small droplets of waters containing the bacteria. Aerosolized water can come from hot tubs, cooling misters, decorative fountains, plumbing systems, and air conditioning units for large buildings, according to health officials. Home A/C units do not use water to cool and do not present a risk for Legionella growth.

Less commonly, people may get sick while drinking when water containing Legionella "goes down the wrong pipe." The disease is not spread from person to person.

Legionella has been detected in the water of homes in several municipalities served by Trenton Water Works. A death was reported in Hamilton Township in December 2021.

Dino Flammia is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dino.flammia@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

States with the most registered hunters

Stacker analyzed data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine which states have the most registered hunters. Read on to see how your state ranks on Stacker’s list.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.