The indoor pool at the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road, is closed again, this time indefinitely, after a potential second case of Legionnaires’ disease was connected to the facility.
Arnold City Administrator Bryan Richison said the pool was closed at 3 p.m. today (Jan. 17) after Recreation Center staff received a phone call from a parent of a Jefferson County child, who reportedly had been diagnosed with the disease.
“The parent who called said the child had been at the pool recently,” Richison said. “We immediately notified the (Jefferson County Health Department) and (Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services). (The Health Department) is doing what they can to track it down and confirm what the person is telling us. Until it is verified, we don’t know what is going to happen.”
Health Department Director Kelley Vollmar said the agency is working to verify the diagnosis but did not have any information as of this afternoon. She said Arnold voluntarily closed the pool.
“It wasn’t something we ordered,” Vollmar said. “They are just trying to be cautious until more information can be verified.”
The parent called the recreation center at about 11:30 a.m.
“We kept the pool open hoping to get more information or guidance from the county or state,” Richison said. “I have no timeline on how long that might take. We felt we waited long enough, and we couldn’t wait any longer to protect the public. We shut it down until there is some testing.”
On Jan. 10, the state Health Department alerted Arnold that a St. Louis County resident who had used the rec center pool was diagnosed with Legionnaires.
The city closed the pool that day, and representatives from the state and Jefferson County health departments did a visual inspection and checked the pool’s chemical records. A water sample was not taken at that time because the agencies wanted to see if there would be a second case connected to the pool.
“The initial investigation that was completed did not find any conditions favorable to the growth of Legionella (the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease),” Vollmar said. “But things are always evolving. We will continue to work with the partners to ensure the health and safety of our residents.”
Arnold opted to close the pool Jan. 10 after being warned about the possible connection to Legionnaires, and while the state and county inspection didn’t indicate a problem, the city decided to disinfect the pool by programming a large amount of chlorine to be released into the water on Jan. 11.
The rec center closed at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 11 because of heavy snow in the area and remained closed Jan. 12. The rec center and pool re-opened Jan. 13.
But with word of a potential second infected person connected to the pool, Arnold shut down the facility today.
“We are kind of in the dark still,” Richison said. “Absent any guidance, we defaulted to be extra safe. Even though we disinfected, we closed it until we can verify it one way or the other.”
Richison said he wants the state to test the pool’s water, even though the city is going to perform its own test.
“We are going to pull samples throughout the facility, but it is a do-it-yourself kit; it is not something I would take as definitive. It is a way to get more information. I want an actual health agency to take a sample using proper protocols, send it to a lab that is accredited and do a test that we can be 100 percent confident in the results.”
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia with lung inflammation, usually caused by infection. You can’t catch Legionnaires’ disease from person-to-person contact. Instead, most people get it from inhaling the bacteria.