Two water tanks at Pittsburgh-based Allegheny General Hospital have tested positive for the bacteria Legionella, but no patients have contracted Legionnaires' disease, according to a WPXI report.
The hospital is providing bottled water to patients in the Snyder Pavilion and Cancer Center, and patients were told not to drink the water or use ice machines.
"We do routine screening of our water systems as part of our routine maintenance, and it was detected in a few of the samples that had been negative previously. This is the first positive test we've had in a long time," Sam Reynolds, MD, chief quality officer of Allegheny Health Network, told WPXI.
Legionella can cause Legionnaires' disease, a deadly pneumonia-like illness, if it is aspirated by immunocompromised or elderly patients.
The CDC recently released a guide to prevent Legionnaires' disease outbreaks. Access the guide here.