October 4, 2019
The Buncombe and Henderson County Health Departments, in conjunction with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, are investigating multiple cases of Legionnaires’ disease reported in individuals who attended the NC Mountain State Fair in Fletcher, NC, Sept. 6–15, 2019. Fifty-three laboratory-confirmed Legionnaires’ disease cases had been reported to the Division of Public Health as of last Thursday (9/26/19) from 10 counties and one other state, and more cases are still under investigation. Nearly 80 percent of patients identified so far have required hospitalization and one has died. Legionnaires’ disease is a form of bacterial pneumonia that people may develop when they breathe in mist or accidentally swallow water into the lungs that contains Legionella bacteria.