What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City (One World Essentials)

by Mona Hanna-Attisha

We found out later from the emails that as early as December 2014, red flags were being raised about a strange escalation in cases of Legionnaires’ disease, a severe, often lethal lung infection caused by waterborne bacteria sometimes found in water towers of hospitals, hotels, and large institutions. The number of Legionnaires’ cases quadrupled after the water switch—also related to the lack of corrosion control—yet nothing was done. Two top staff in the governor’s office were notified as early as March 2015 and recommended action, yet no action was taken and the issue didn’t become public for another nine months. The county health department, which also knew about the increase in cases, did not bother to alert providers or the public to be on the watch for Legionnaires’. This led to eighty-seven cases in 2014 and 2015, at least twelve deaths, and an uptick in pneumonia mortality.