Two residents of St. John's Lutheran Community in Albert Lea have been diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease since the facility identified its first case in July, and the senior care campus has responded by restricting water use and expanding testing across its water system. The facility detected Legionella bacteria in samples from portions of its water system, according to a statement from the organization.
According to Albert Lea Tribune, the two residents were diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease as of November 2, according to Mark Anderson. St. John's operates a Fountain Lake campus that offers independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care, and the facility has maintained an ongoing water-management program since 2018, per the same report. That plan assigns responsibility for routine water-quality monitoring, maintenance, flushing, laboratory testing and protective measures whenever Legionella is detected.
Facility Response Includes Bottled Water and New Sampling
St. John's has imposed water-use restrictions, added water sampling and implemented protective measures across the campus, including at a building referred to as Water's Edge, the station's report notes. The facility also distributed bottled water to residents and is working with the Minnesota Department of Health and an environmental water-management consultant on its response. Per a statement from the facility, St. John's plans to expand testing and work with a consultant on additional disinfection measures.
Mark Anderson said Legionella is widespread in Minnesota and described it as a complicated bacteria that can unexpectedly appear, adding that the renewed detection was surprising after several years without cases, per the same account. A Minnesota Department of Health official visited the St. John's campus on Tuesday and said he was impressed by the facility's documentation over several years, the report states. The facility said residents' and families' health and well-being remain its highest priority, per the statement.
What Legionnaires' Disease Is and How It Spreads
Legionnaires' disease is a type of bacterial pneumonia that can cause severe illness, with symptoms including fever, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, chills, shortness of breath, loss of appetite and coughing, the Tribune reported. It is reported to spread through inhaling aerosols from water sources containing Legionella bacteria. The Minnesota Department of Health says people can get sick if they breathe in small water droplets that contain the bacteria, and the agency is explicit that “Legionnaires' disease is not spread from person to person.”
MDH has said prompt diagnosis and antibiotic treatment are important, and the agency recommended heightened monitoring for possible additional cases along with coordination with health care providers regarding appropriate testing, according to the Tribune's report. MDH's written notice included restrictions on showers, hand sprayers and ice machines, per the same account.
A Facility With a History of Legionella Investigations
This is not the first time MDH has investigated Legionella at the Albert Lea facility. In July 2018, the agency moved to investigate two cases of Legionnaires' disease in residents at the St. John's Fountain Lake facility, with the first resident's symptoms beginning in early June and the second case reported to MDH on July 19; both residents were hospitalized. MDH recommended at the time that facility management work with a consultant to test and remediate possible sources as needed.
By October 2019, MDH's health advisory noted a case with symptom onset on September 26 in a resident of St. John's Fountain Lake Community, along with one case identified in April 2019 and five cases among residents and visitors in 2018. As of that October 2019 advisory, the facility remained on water restrictions and a water testing program, and environmental testing had yielded a variety of Legionella species, including L. pneumophila serogroup 1. Those historical findings describe conditions documented in 2018 and 2019 and are not a description of the facility's current status.
Legionnaires' Cases Have Been Rising Statewide
The Albert Lea cases arrive amid a broader statewide increase. MDH reported 171 confirmed Legionnaires' disease cases among Minnesota residents in 2024, a 28% increase from the 134 cases reported in 2023 and a 45% increase over the median number of cases reported annually from 2019 to 2023. The agency noted that 144 of those cases, or 84%, occurred among individuals 50 or older, and that 22 cases were part of a continuing outbreak linked to a non-disinfected community water system in Itasca County that began in 2023.
MDH had flagged the broader trend years earlier too, noting in a 2018 bulletin that cases of Legionnaires' disease had increased in Minnesota and nationally, with most cases diagnosed in summer and early fall and not linked to a specific outbreak. Separately, MDH guidance has noted that a June 2017 directive from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services requires Medicare-certified nursing homes, hospitals and critical access hospitals to maintain water-management policies and procedures aimed at reducing the risk of Legionella and other opportunistic pathogens.
