NC report: Hot tub water caused Legionnaire’s outbreak

ASHEVILLE, NC (AP) — State officials say hot tub water that sprayed into the air likely caused an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that killed four people in North Carolina last year.

The state Department of Health and Human released its final report on the outbreak, which infected people who attended a state fair in western North Carolina.

The report says people attending the North Carolina Mountain State Fair in September in Fletcher were likely exposed to the bacteria in aerosolized water from hot tubs on display at the fair.

The report tallied tallied 136 cases of Legionnaire’s disease and one case of Pontiac fever.