Playboy Mansion bacteria points to Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

Los Angeles County public health officials have identified Legionella bacteria, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, at a water source at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in its investigation of the source of illness that sickened people after a fundraiser earlier this month.

Public health officials have suspected Legionnaires’ disease in the outbreak, a disease spread by bacteria that causes respiratory illness, such as a cough, and malaise, chills and fever.

Officials, however, have not ruled out other bacteria or viruses, because Legionella bacteria are commonly found in moist environments, Dr. Jonathan Fielding, director of the county Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

Health officials have said that the people fell ill after they attended DomainFest’s Feb. 1-3 conference, which culminated with a fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles.

DomainFest released a statement Tuesday that urged those who attended the Feb. 3 fundraising event at the Playboy Mansion to fill out a confidential survey to assist health officials with their investigation.

The name of Legionnaires’ disease stems from its discovery in 1976 when attendees of an American Legion convention in Philadelphia became sick with the bacteria and developed pneumonia. About 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized with the disease every year in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Healthy people usually recover from the bacterial disease, which can treated with antibiotics, but death can occur in 5% to 30% of cases, the CDC said.

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Playboy Mansion one of several L.A. hot spots investigated in mystery outbreak 

-- Rong-Gong Lin II

Photo: Playboy Mansion. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[sw]

I'm surprised Legionnaires’ disease is the only disease they have found there.
Gross!

[LoL]

Thats all they found there?

[Bao]

I thought it might have been some sort of STD.

[Bill]

People have been coming and going (no pun intended) at the Playboy mansion pool for many years. Like the mansion itself, the pool has been used extensively, and in view of the clientele and activities that have taken place there it's no wonder that the pool's water has become a toxic bacterial cocktail (no pun intended), tantamount to the moral wasteland that the mansion itself represents.

[niki]

Is this a surprise? you would think a multitude of bacteria grow there.

[Pete Sake]

As scary as this sounds, most of the old houses in the Beverly Hills area will have issues with mold and mildew at some point. Probably nothing that will keep the parties away for long. But Hugh Hefner isn't as young as he used to be and should take the news seriously, maybe spend a few weeks in Arizona while they clean it up.

[dee gee]

ewwwwww....yuck....stinky porno people

[Robert]

This is no surprise!! I've been to the Playboy mansion a few times and even though I was tempted to go into the pool which was full of "nice girls", I thought twice about it! I'd consider it in a full body wet suit!

[Dee]

What do you expect to find in a cesspool?

[Jason Thompson]

A couple of my friends in the domaining industry ended up getting sick a few days after attending DOMAINfest. If indeed this happened at the festivities thrown at the Playboy Mansion then how were they still able to hold events after this situation occurred? The Playboy Mansion held a fairly large Super Bowl event and an All Star Weekend event. I find it disturbing that these events were still allowed to be held at the Mansion even after such an outbreak occurred. The entire premises should of been quarantined for a few weeks before anyone visited the place again and risked the chance of becoming ill.

[obama]

Article says nothing about it being the pool, could have been the tap water for all you know.

[BABE RUTH]

HEF IN MOUTH DISEASE: the Playbacteria has the symptoms of arrested development with an infantile fascination in mammalia...this is coupled with delusions of literary and cultural sophistication, and a fear of emotional commitment...
the patient is advised to avoid being bedridden and lounging around in pajamas, to get out into the fresh air and sunshine, and to learn to love someone other than themselves...

[Mike]

Legionnaires’ disease

That's what happens when you hire HVAC people who are lazy, incompetent, or both.

[Jerry]

disgusting

[Marie]

I attended an event there last weekend and became extremely Ill,
as did several of my friends. I'm disgusted that they still held an
event there. I trusted that if there were any chance of the bacteria
being present they would not have held the event. What a bunch of
idiots.