Employees at West Orange town hall were drinking bottled water and washing their hands with hand sanitizer after a colleague was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, and water at the public building tested positive for the bacteria that causes the disease.
The longtime employee was hospitalized two weeks ago, West Orange officials confirmed Friday.
Results of testing at town hall revealed Thursday that five of 10 samples of water contained elevated levels of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ — a severe and potentially deadly form of pneumonia.
The water at town hall was disconnected Thursday, and water at all other municipal buildings is being tested, officials said.
Test results take two weeks.
Thursday night, filters were installed on all public water sources at the municipal building, officials said, the first of several remediation efforts being taken.
It is contracted by inhaling contaminated water mist, health officials say.
Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com.
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