Disneyland has shut down and decontaminated two cooling towers following an outbreak of Legionnaires disease that sickened 12 people, nine of them guests or employees at the theme park in Southern California.
One of the three cases of the respiratory illness not linked to Disneyland was fatal in an individual who had additional health issues, said Jessica Good of the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The chief medical officer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Pamela Hymel, said in a written statement that after learning of the Legionnaires cases, park officials ordered the cooling towers treated with chemicals to destroy the bacteria and shut them down.
Cooling towers provide cold water for various uses at Disneyland and give off a vapour or mist that could have carried the Legionnella bacteria.
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Disneyland, which opened in 1955 and attracts tens of thousands of visitors a day, is owned by The Walt Disney Company .
Hymel said on Saturday that local health officials had assured them that there was no longer any risk to guests or employees of the park.
Good said an investigation of Legionnaires cluster discovered that the 12 people sickened by the serious lung disease had travelled to, lived in, or worked in Anaheim during the month of September.
Reuters
