Legionella bacteria detected at Lewiston-Queenston Bridge building

The sampling was conducted after an employee at the facility reported a case of Legionellosis, which includes two diseases: Legionnaires disease, which is a serious pneumonia, and Pontiac disease, which is a flu-like illness that is generally mild. Both are caused by breathing in small droplets of water that contain Legionella bacteria. The bacteria is not transmitted from person to person, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Discovery of Legionella cases “tends to be more common this time of year,” the Niagara County Health Department said in a statement emailed to media Friday. The bacteria can appear naturally in freshwater environments and also in manmade water sources such as cooling towers, water tanks, fountains and hot tubs that aren’t properly maintained, the department said. 

The bridge commission said in a statement that the bacteria was detected “at certain locations at the Lewiston U.S. Port of Entry.”

“As a precautionary measure, the identified water systems have been shut down and temporary facilities and drinking water have been provided while we evaluate the situation,” the commission said.

The Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, which is a binational agency, leases facilities at the Lewiston end of the bridge from the U.S. General Services Administration for the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The county Health Department has been in communication with the Bridge Commission and the state Health Department, “and believes that the necessary corrective actions have been initiated and the situation is fully under control and poses no public health danger,” the Health Department said in a statement released Friday.

Public health…