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Report on Legionnaires' disease outbreak at VA due soon
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5166267-74/outbreak-federal-pittsburghReport on Legionnaires' disease outbreak at VA due soon
By Adam Smeltz
Published: Saturday, Nov. 30, 2013, 12:01 a.m.
Updated 20 hours ago
Any federal workers found responsible for a fatal Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Pittsburgh soon could learn their fates.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is “finalizing its review for recommended administrative actions” linked to the outbreak blamed for five deaths over two years in the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, spokeswoman Ramona Joyce said in a two-paragraph written statement.
Joyce would not elaborate on Friday on whether department leaders might disclose publicly any punishments handed down in the Pittsburgh VA system, where federal reviewers linked the fatalities and at least 16 other illnesses to the outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said bacteria-tainted tap water sickened patients apparently from February 2011 to November 2012, although a Tribune-Review investigation turned up records of alarming bacteria levels as early as 2007.