Legionnaire's disease discovered at Plant City mobile home park; one dead

By Stephanie Wang and Jodie Tillman, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Tuesday, October 18, 2011
PLANT CITY — One resident of a mobile home park died, and two others were sickened, after coming down with Legionnaires' disease, health officials said Monday.

The three people lived at the Meadows at Countrywood, a 55-and-older community with 799 mobile homes in Plant City.

They were not relatives and didn't live together, said Hillsborough County Health Department spokesman Steve Huard.

"It is a little alarming that one of (the cases) resulted in death and that it's all in one community," he said. "We want to know where the source is, if we could possibly determine that, to protect the remainder of the community."

As a precaution, health officials closed two swimming pools and two hot tubs, potential origins of the disease, at the park.

Citing privacy concerns, the Health Department didn't release the identities or genders of the victims. The president of the residents' association said the victim who died was a man.

Health officials learned of the cases Friday, when the three had shown up at the same hospital. One died Saturday. The others remain under medical care.

Legionnaires' disease is caused by a naturally occurring bacteria that grows best in warm water, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can contract the disease when they breathe mist or vapor contaminated with the bacteria.