A former health official with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was sentenced to a year of probation for failing to disclose an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease to the public amid the Flint water crisis, according to CBS Detroit.
Corinne Miller, PhD, former director of epidemiology at the state health department, pled no contest to willful neglect of duty in the summer of 2016 for suppressing information related to the Legionnaires' outbreak. On Monday, Judge Jennifer Manley sentenced Dr. Miller to one year probation and 300 hours community service. She was also ordered to write a public letter of apology.
Special prosecutor Todd Flood said Dr. Miller's cooperation in the water crisis investigation has been significant, according to CBS Detroit.
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Before the Flint water crisis received national attention, 92 cases of Legionnaires' disease were confirmed in residents in Genesee County from 2014 to 2015. Twelve cases resulted in death.
Legionnaires' disease is caused by Legionella bacteria. It is not spread through person-to-person contact or by ingesting water, but can be contracted through the inhalation of mist from contaminated water sources, such as cooling misters and plumbing systems.
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