Hundreds of workers at the Federal Trade Commission will be spending the rest of August working from home after an inspection by the General Services Administration found Legionella bacteria in their District of Columbia building.
Legionella can be spread by exposure to infected water or air droplets and causes Legionnaires’ disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies the disease as a serious type of pneumonia, with symptoms including cough, fever, shortness of breath, headaches and muscle aches that occur two days to two weeks after a victim is infected.
No confirmed infections caused by Legionella have been found in the FTC building, according to The Well News. FTC leaders told 600 of the agency’s 1,300 employees Tuesday that they could work remotely for the rest of this month.
A quarter of the buildings the GSA inspected tested positive for the presence of Legionella, reported the news site.
The FTC will update the situation later in the month.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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