A foreign visitor has died and at least two other people have become sick after staying at the Epic Hotel in downtown Miami, Florida. Health officials are blaming an unusual type of pneumonia called Legionairres' disease.
Legionairres' disease typically occurs after inhaling an aerosol containing Legionella bacteria. Such particles could originate from any infected water source. When the surface of the water is disrupted, small water droplets can result which quickly evaporate. If these droplets contain bacteria, the bacterial cells remain suspended in the air, invisible to the naked eye but small enough to be inhaled into the lungs. This has been found in inadequately ventilated areas such as prisons where a condensating air conditioner can spread it throughout the entire room, infecting anyone not immune to the strand of bacteria. Potential sources of such contaminated water include cooling towers used in industrial cooling water systems as well as in large central air conditioning systems, evaporative coolers, hot water systems, showers, whirlpool spas, architectural fountains, room-air humidifiers, ice making machines, misting equipment, and similar disseminators that draw upon a public water supply. The disease may also be spread in a hot tub if the filtering system is defective.
Guests at the Epic Hotel have been relocated to nearby Miami hotels to prevent further contact with the water, according to the Miami-Dade County Health Department. It has been reported that Doctors say there is no cause for alarm because only three cases of the bacteria have surfaced in the past two months.
One guest, a foreigner who stayed at the hotel this fall, died as a result of the disease. Case such as these can involve negligent maintenance by the hotel. If this should occur, the surviving family members may have a wrongful death case against the hotel, if they can prove that the death resulted from the negligence of the hotel. As to any other guests who may have become ill because of this, they may have a premises liability lawsuit for negligence against the Miami hotel.
With over 50 years of collective service to the South Florida community, the law partners at The Ben Law Firm have helped thousands of clients to obtain money compensation for their personal injury and wrongful death claims.
All of the firm's partners have received the prestigious "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, which is a recognition by their peers in the legal community that their practice meets the highest professional and ethical standards.
Please visit our website at Injured.com or you can contact us directly.
