City and state officials are scrambling for clues to what caused an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at a senior living facility on the former site of Memorial Stadium, leaving one person dead and four others sickened.
Officials at the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Baltimore Health Department were interviewing those who have fallen ill and planning to test water sources to try to determine the origin of the outbreak at Stadium Place, a retirement community built 10 years ago. Authorities also were informing residents about symptoms so any new cases can be caught early.
City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke is organizing a meeting with residents and the Baltimore Health Department on Friday at the community, home to about 400 seniors, to answer questions and pass out information about the form of bacterial pneumonia.
The news had residents concerned Thursday but not ready to leave. Some said they were looking forward to getting answers about the potential source of the bacteria and what can be done to clean it before others become ill.
Several who live in the Venable II apartments in the complex said they think the management, though typically attentive, has not been quick enough to provide information that might reassure them.
They had known about the first case for about a week because the victim, whom health officials have not identified, lived in their building and the woman's son told them she died Oct. 5 of pneumonia. A few days later, a management flier informed them that it was Legionnaires' disease.
"The Saturday before, I went by her apartment and she said she'd been up the night before because she didn't feel good, and I didn't see her again after that," said Kizzie Hodges, who said the woman was her neighbor. "She wasn't sick that long. That makes me concerned."
Ardelle Kovel said the number of cases is worrisome. Each unit has its own heating and air-conditioning unit, a common culprit for the bacteria, and she had thought the first case might be an isolated incident.
"I've always felt safe here," she said. "I'm still not too scared, but I want more information."
Officials are not releasing any details about those who have become ill. But Clarke said she believes they went to the emergency room at nearby Union Memorial Hospital. It is not known whether any remain at the hospital.
"We want them to know we're doing everything possible to protect them," Clarke said.
