Workers who’d had Legionnaires’ disease return to auto plant

Two autoworkers who had been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease are back to work at Stellantis’ Warren Truck Assembly Plant, and no legionella bacteria were found in testing of the plant’s water systems, according to a Stellantis spokeswoman.

The investigation, however, is ongoing, according to Andrew Cox, Macomb County director of health and community services.

It’s unclear where the workers came in contact with the bacteria. The Macomb County Health Department learned of the cases from the workers’ health care providers, according to an update sent last week by Tom Lehrer, a spokesman for the Macomb County Executive’s Office. The notice also noted that the illness is a mandatory reportable communicable disease in Michigan.

As of Aug. 10, there had been 33 cases reported in Macomb County this year, and the annual average for the last five years in the county has been 56, Lehrer said.

Stellantis, owner of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat, confirmed last week that the workers had been diagnosed with the illness that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes as a serious form of pneumonia.

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“In general, people do not spread Legionnaires’ disease to other people. However, this may be possible under rare circumstances,” according to the CDC website. The bacteria “occurs naturally in freshwater environments, like lakes and streams. It can become a health concern when it grows and spreads in human-made building water systems.”

This week, Ann Marie Fortunate, a spokeswoman for Stellantis, provided an update on what the company did after learning that cases of the disease were diagnosed among workers at the plant just north of Detroit, which produces the older version of the Ram 1500 pickup and the high-end Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer:

“As a precautionary measure, water samples from Stellantis’ Warren Truck Assembly Plant were taken for testing by a qualified laboratory, then the systems were deep cleaned and disinfected by a qualified cleaning company after two employees were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. A team of third-party experts have completed the testing of the water samples from the plant’s water test systems. The results were negative for the legionella bacteria.”