Health officials reported a third fatality Friday in an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that has infected 27 people.
But the Oakland County Health Division said all available evidence indicated "there is no continuing risk" since those infected were exposed to the bacteria over a few days in late September or early October and no subsequent cases are showing up.Investigators have said they believe the outbreak was caused by an air-conditioning cooling tower on top of a commercial building in Farmington or Farmington Hills, Mich.
Most of those infected lived in, worked in or passed through a six-square-mile area of the two northwestern Detroit suburbs.
The bacteria that causes the pneumonia-like illness was first identified in 1976 after members of the Pennsylvania American Legion contracted the disease in a hotel during a convention. It can breed in standing water found in cooling and air-conditioning equipment.