Residents of Flint, Michigan, began getting gravely ill and in some cases dying in summer 2014 in one of the worst outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease in U.S. history, and a county health director says attempts to find the source were hampered when the state wouldn't request federal assistance. Eventually, 87 people got Legionnaire's and nine died.
According to Genesee County Health director Jim Henry, state officials purposely kept the CDC away once the county wanted to investigate the highly corrosive Flint River as the Legionnaire's outbreak began. By that time, the state had decided to switch the water supply source to the Flint River, and soon brown water began flowing from taps in the city.
The CDC never showed up after being contacted by county officials and it appears that state purposely intervened. According to CDC protocol, a state must "invite" the CDC to investigate an outbreak. And Michigan did not do that. According to the CNN story, the CDC says "Michigan felt that they had the skills and resources needed to perform the investigation themselves." Michigan state officials admit hat they never found the cause of the outbreak, but refuse to comment further.
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