State Report Reveals Mishandling Over Legionnaires' Outbreaks At Veterans' Home

CHICAGO (CBS)--State audits outline a series of delays and mishandlings following several outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease at a Quincy veterans' home.

An Illinois Auditor General report found that 66 residents and eight employees of the veterans' home tested positive for the disease since an initial outbreak in 2015.

There have been 13 deaths since that outbreak.

The performance audit says the nursing staff failed to notify the Illinois Department of Public Health of the severity of the problem until six days after the outbreak.

On December 2015, the Centers for Disease Control recommended filters be installed on all water fixtures at the veterans home, but they weren't installed until 2018 following another outbreak.

The report found that residents received no extra monitoring after the first outbreak was identified.