Local News

One N.H. resort guest dead, another hospitalized due to Legionnaires’ disease

Health officials said they are investigating the sources of exposure.

One person is dead and another was hospitalized after staying at a resort in New Hampshire. Courtesy of Google Maps

January 2, 2024

New Hampshire health officials are investigating two cases of Legionnaires’ disease that reportedly resulted in one death and another hospitalization following trips to a resort near the White Mountain National Forest.

The sources of exposure weren’t known as of Tuesday, including if the two people caught it before or while at Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa in Whitefield. New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services put out an initial alert about the cases Friday.

In a response to a comment on Facebook Saturday, the resort said they were waiting for test results “to confirm the potential source.” The comment also mentioned that the guests stayed at the resort this fall.

“The state confirmed they cannot be certain where these individuals contracted their infection, and we are working closely with the New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to determine if the two individuals were affected as a result of visiting the property in fall of 2023,” the resort said.

News outlets reported that one of the people infected was a Massachusetts resident and the other was from Rhode Island.

Health department officials told WCVB that the two infected people were not staying at the resort together. They were both older adults, and both patients required hospitalization, “which oftentimes is the case with Legionnaires’ disease.”

“They were at the resort at different times, in fact, different months and staying in different rooms,” Dr. Benjamin Chan, the state epidemiologist, told WCVB.

In an email to Boston.com, health officials said the patient who was hospitalized has since been released.

The Massachusetts resident, a 71-year-old woman, died on Oct. 1 — one week after her stay at the resort — her husband told WCVB.

Henry Kruschwitz of Merrimac said his wife Barbara had swam in the resort’s pool and hot tub.

Though health officials have yet to confirm the exposure source, people most often get sick with Legionnaires’ disease when the Legionella bacteria grows and spreads in building water systems, such as hot tubs.

People can become infected once they breathe in the small water droplets containing the bacteria, which then can develop into Legionnaires’ disease or Pontiac fever. The latter is milder and includes typical fever symptoms, while Legionnaires’ disease symptoms are similar to other types of pneumonia.

Most healthy people will not become sick from Legionella, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but those who do become sick with Legionnaires’ disease — often people who have risk factors — will often require hospitalization. One in 10 people die from the infection.