Deadly bacteria found at Los Angeles County Medical Examiner office

Legionella bacteria has been discovered in a cooling system at the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office near downtown Los Angeles, according to the New York Post and NBC 4. An employee at the facility later tested positive for Legionnaires' disease. The New York Post reported that the identity and medical condition of the infected worker have not been disclosed. [1]

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed it was notified of the employee testing positive for the illness, the New York Post reported. Local officials have not established publicly whether the employee contracted the infection from the contaminated cooling system at the office. [1]

Legionella is an airborne bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease, which can be deadly. German physician and microbiologist Robert Koch historically won the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his early research into tuberculosis and bacteria. [1][2]