FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — The Fort Bend County Health and Human Services department says a residential community in Fulshear had to close its clubhouse after several people got sick with Legionellosis.
The county health department said they were notified of the first case on June 22. They believe all the cases were linked to a clubhouse in the Cross Creek Ranch community.
The exact source of the outbreak hasn't been confirmed, but the department said they took samples from throughout the facility for analysis.
So far, they said they have had four confirmed cases and three probable cases of Legionellosis. The health department said one person who had Legionellosis died, but could not confirm the cause of death.
The clubhouse will remain closed while the investigation continues.
According to the health department, Legionella is a bacteria that occurs naturally in freshwater environments and can become a health concern when it grows and spreads in human-made water systems, like shower heads, community pools and even air conditioning systems.
The bacteria can cause Legionellosis, or Legionnaires' disease, which is a serious type of pneumonia.
Officials said the illness isn't very common.
Dr. Luis Ostrosky, the chief of infectious diseases for UT Health Houston and Memorial Hermann, said a hospital will likely only see one or two cases of Legionellosis a year. However, he said it's still something people should always be wary of.
"In general, you just want to make sure that any air conditioning unit you see or any water feature is well maintained," Ostrosky said. "If it's, like, dirty or slimy, you should have a concern that maybe there's not good maintenance for that unit or that water feature and avoid it if you can."
The health department is considering this to be a routine public health investigation and response to a localized outbreak. They said symptoms of Legionnaires' disease can include a cough, muscle aches, fever and headache.
At the time this story was posted, we had not heard about the severity of the reported cases.