Northwest Suburban Schools Closed After Legionella Bacteria Found

NBC5 in Chicago reports that three schools in the town of Elgin were evacuated Wednesday morning after Legionella bacteria was detected in school “cooling towers”. The schools and office were immediately evacuated following the discoveries, which took place during annual inspections of cooling towers at the schools.

Several Elgin-area schools were closed Wednesday after air testing revealed “higher than normal” levels of the bacteria that causes Legionnaire’s disease. “The opportunity for that to vaporize and get into the air where a student of staff member could breathe it is very slim”.

Elgin School District U-46 CEO Tony Sanders, in a Facebook message, said elevated levels of the bacteria were found in the cooling towers of Eastview Middle School, Larkin High school, and Gifford Street High School, located about 35 miles northwest of Chicago. “So what we did today was just a precaution”, Sanders said. Students were transported to other nearby schools for parent pick up. Students at Larkin were dismissed to go home if they walk to school, or wait for school buses. Emergency operations will be at the school district’s plant operations facility off of Shales Parkway, according to Sanders. Because I believe in education.

According to the CDC, Legionella is a bacteria found naturally in the environment, especially in warm water systems.

Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia caused by inhaling mist infected with the bacteria Legionella.