Cause Seen in Toronto for Illness Fatal to 16

By Beth Duff

Toronto health officials said Thursday that Legionnaires’ disease was likely the cause of 16 deaths at a Toronto nursing home and warned that more deaths were possible before the bacteria was fully contained.

Dr. David McKeown, the chief medical officer for Public Health Toronto, said there had been no new deaths since Wednesday, when six elderly people residing at the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged succumbed to the bacteria.

“We have a lot of sick people in hospital still, so I’m not going to make any more predictions about deaths,” he said.

In all, 70 residents, 13 employees and five visitors to Seven Oaks have been affected by the bacteria, and at least 34 of them have been hospitalized.

Though officials had earlier ruled out Legionnaires’ based on preliminary tests, they said cultures taken from autopsies, which took several days to grow, proved positive.

“We’ll continue to look for other possibilities, but we feel pretty confident . . . we’re dealing with Legionnaires’ disease,” said Dr. Donald Low, chief microbiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital. “Some patients are fragile enough that they may still succumb to this.”

Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia named for a severe outbreak that killed 29 people at a meeting of the American Legion in Philadelphia in 1976. The bacteria is typically found in the environment, usually in water.

McKeown said the bacteria grows best in warm water, such as hot water tanks and large plumbing and air-conditioning systems. He said the home’s ventilation system had been shut down.

When asked about a recent sewage pipe break at a nearby park, McKeown said investigations were under way as to how the bacteria made its way into the nursing home.