The Best Western Sovereign in Albany was closed indefinitely—dark since the last day in May—when two guests who contracted Legionnaires’ Disease while staying at the hotel in the fall of 2011 filed lawsuits on Tuesday, June 12.
By the end of the week however, the hotel on Western Avenue was cleared for reopening. On Friday, June 15, the Albany County Department of Health received test results on water samples taken after two cases of Legionnaires’ Disease, a potentially deadly form of pneumonia, were reported in May. The test results showed no sign of Legionellosis bacteria in the building’s water system.
“The remediation measures taken by the hotel appear to have been effective. We will continue to monitor the situation with periodic testing,” said Dr. James Cruccetti, commissioner for the county Health Department.
This May wasn’t the first time the hotel had problems with legionellosis bacteria in the water system.
Deputy County Executive Michael Perrin said there are at least 10 cases of Legionnaires’ Disease connected to the Best Western Sovereign recorded with the county Health Department “going back to the beginning of this year.”
The two cases of Legionnaires’ Disease attached to the lawsuits stem from hotel stays in October and December of 2011. In one instance, Jason Woodard of Colonie visited the facility in early October and shortly thereafter spent a week at Albany Memorial Hospital after being diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease. In the second instance, 63-year-old Antonia Swierczewski of Massapequa stayed at the hotel from Dec. 23 to Dec. 25 and within 10 days was critically ill.
“(Swierczewski) got very seriously ill with this, was in critical condition, had septic shock, kidney failure, was in the hospital for 10 days,” said her attorney Michael Conway of the Albany Law Firm of Harris, Conway and Donovan.
According to information from the county health department, the risk of contracting Legionnaires’ Disease is relatively low for most people and the disease responds well to antibiotic treatment. However, individuals like the elderly, smokers, those with chronic lung disease or people with compromised immune systems have a greater risk of developing the disease.
The primary way to acquire the disease is from exposure to the bacteria when it’s breathed in as a mist or vapor, like in a shower or hot tub. The disease is not contagious and symptoms usually appear two to 10 days after exposure and include high fever, chills, cough and fatigue.
Conway is representing both guests and said he intends “to get to the bottom of how much the Albany Best Western was doing to prevent this outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease.” When Woodard first contracted the disease, Conway said the hotel “denied they had a problem with the bacteria” when confronted by Woodard.
He said both his clients, though now recovered, continue to suffer from lasting effects of the disease.
“(Swierczewski) is continuing to have muscle weakness and fatigue to this day,” said Conway. “(Woodard) is still having breathing issues.”
Conway hasn’t yet received a response from the hotel in regard to the lawsuits but said it’s still early in the case. Multiple calls to the Best Western Sovereign for comment were not returned.
In the most recent cases of the disease, two guests who stayed at the hotel in May were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease and water samples were collected during an environmental assessment of the hotel’s water system on Tuesday, May 29. Two days later, those tests indicated the possible presence of Legionella bacteria in the water supply and the county Health Department put out a release notifying guests who stayed at the hotel after May 15 to be on the lookout for symptoms of Legionnaires’ Disease.
“As a precautionary measure, we are attempting to notify guests who might have been exposed to these bacteria during their stay at the Best Western Sovereign Hotel and are at risk of becoming ill,” read a notification on the county health department’s website.
About 25,000 people in the U.S. develop Legionnaires’ Disease each year, with an additional unknown number infected with the bacteria and experiencing mild or no symptoms, according to information from the health department. Outbreaks are most often in the summer but occur year-round.