Health agency found potentially deadly bacteria outbreak at Boise gym. Are you at risk?
Bacteria at a Boise gym is believed to have sickened three people in June.
Central District Health, the local public health agency serving Boise, has linked three cases of Legionnaires’ disease in June to a hot tub at Crunch Fitness at 2999 N. Lakeharbor Lane, along West State Street. The disease can be fatal.
What happened?
Three cases were reported to the health district on June 5, June 7 and June 9, Curtis Loveless, the agency’s community and environmental health division administrator, told the Idaho Statesman by phone.
Loveless said an environmental health specialist went to the gym on June 7, two days after the first case was identified, after which the gym voluntarily closed its hot tub and began to work on “resolving any issues that our inspectors had identified.”
Later that day, the second case was identified. The health agency returned the following day to collect water samples, which came back negative for Legionella.
“We believe this is due to the mitigation steps that the gym had taken to resolve the issue,” Loveless said.
The health department linked the cases to the gym after interviewing the three patients who tested positive and finding that gym attendance was what they had in common.
News of the outbreak was first reported by KTVB.
What is Legionnaires’ disease?
A type of pneumonia, the disease is caused by Legionella bacteria. It commonly causes coughing, shortness of breath, fever, muscle aches and headaches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one in 10 people who contract it will die, the CDC says.
People over 50, smokers, and people with chronic lung disease, weak immune systems or cancer are at increased risk.
How did it get into a gym?
Legionella bacteria are found naturally in freshwater, and they can get into plumbing.
“Outbreaks are commonly associated with buildings or structures that have complex water systems, like hotels and resorts, long-term care facilities, hospitals, and cruise ships,” according to the CDC. “The most likely sources of infection include water used for showering, hot tubs, decorative fountains, and cooling towers.”
The bacteria usually get into the body when people breathe in small droplets of water that contain the pathogen.
Are Boiseans at risk?
“At this point in time, Central District Health does not believe there is any ongoing risk to the public or any of the members using the gym,” Loveless said in a statement Monday. He said the investigation has been closed.
What does Crunch Fitness say?
A Crunch Fitness employee who declined to give their name told the Statesman by phone that “There’s nothing in our facility that’s been proven.”
“It’s all accusations,” the employee said.
Crunch Fitness’s corporate headquarters did not respond to a request for comment.
Is the Crunch Fitness staying open?
Loveless said “no existing threats or concerns are present,” and that the gym remains open.
Are pools at gyms regulated?
Generally, public pools — meaning municipally operated pools or pools at hotels or gyms that are open to the public — are regulated by local health agencies in the U.S.
In Washington state, for instance, all pools other than private ones limited to use by up to two-unit dwellings are regulated by the state, whose rules include design and water-quality standards.
But in Idaho, pools have been deregulated since 2002, when the Legislature excluded pools at hotels and health clubs from the definition of a “public swimming pool” to exempt them from mandatory testing and inspections, according to previous Statesman reporting. That means that most pools are not inspected by officials.
Why is it called Legionnaires’ disease?
An outbreak of the disease was discovered in 1976 among people who went to an American Legion convention in Philadelphia, according to the CDC. The Legion is a veterans’ nonprofit, and that’s where the disease got its name.
A milder version of the disease, still caused by the same bacteria, is known as Pontiac Fever and causes fever and muscle aches, according to the CDC. A 1968 epidemic in the city of Pontiac, Michigan, is where it got its name.
Have there been other recent outbreaks?
Legionella bacteria were discovered July 11 at a hotel in Walla Walla, Washington.
In June, the New York City Health Department opened an investigation into a Midtown hotel after three cases were discovered there over 12 months.
Last year, an outbreak linked to a Bronx cooling tower killed two people and hospitalized 28.
