Four new cases of legionnaires’ disease have been found in the Moncton area but they are not related to a recent outbreak, according to the regional medical officer of health.
Dr. Yves Léger said in a press conference on Monday that the new cases are “sporadic,” which means they are not linked to one another or to the outbreak that was declared over on Sept. 10.
READ MORE: N.B. confirms legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Moncton is over
He said he is not surprised that more cases have surfaced.
“The reason why I expected to see more cases is because legionnaires’ is an under-reported disease, which means there are more cases of legionnaires’ that occur in the community than what is actually reported to public health,” said Léger.
He said public health in New Brunswick gets an average of two to three reported cases per year of legionnaires’ disease, but some estimates indicate that there could be eight to 10 times more cases that occur in the community.
“It is not a well-known disease and most health providers don’t necessarily think of testing for legionnaires,’” Léger said.
READ MORE: N.B. confirms 16 cases of legionnaires’ disease in Moncton, still won’t reveal source of outbreak
Legionnaires’ is a disease caused by bacteria called legionella, which can be found in both natural bodies of water, such as ponds, lakes and streams, and in constructed water systems, such as air conditioners, cooling towers, whirlpools, spas and decorative fountains.
The symptoms experienced by people who are infected by the disease are pneumonia-like.
In September, 16 people were affected by the disease, but there were no reported deaths.
Tests have previously confirmed that the strain of bacteria found at a contaminated site is the same as the strain found in the affected patients. But this time, the cases are sporadic and the reason for these infections is still unclear.
“For these four cases, we’ve compared the information between the four and we’ve also compared that as well with the information from our outbreak cases to see if there are common places they’ve been to, so trying to find any commonalities between them,” said Léger.
“There’s no common source, so it’s really challenging.”
READ MORE: Outbreak of legionnaires’ disease in Moncton grows to 12 confirmed cases
He said that public health is trying to send all cases for samples, but so far has only been able to send one.
Léger added that one of the new cases was from out of town and the one case sent for testing did not match outbreak samples.
He said health-care providers are now more aware of the issue and would be doing more tests as a result of the outbreak.
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