Two Legionnaires' disease cases in New York were traced to an Airbnb hot tub through genome sequencing. The owner had dumped excessive chlorine to hide poor maintenance and never did professional cleaning. The CDC recorded 50 hot-tub outbreaks in four years, and warm water plus neglected chlorine create ideal conditions for Legionella bacteria.
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After seeing this new study, I'm never stepping foot into one of these hot tubs at an Airbnb ever again. They just published an investigation where they took 2 people who got seriously sick and tested the hot tub they were both in. 2 people in New York developed Legionnaires' disease. Officials noticed both of them had stayed at the same short-term rental, so investigators went in, sampled the hot tub, and ran whole genome sequencing on it. The Legionella in that tub was genetically identical to the bacteria in both patients. Then it gets worse. The night before the health department showed up, the owner dumped a large amount of chlorine into the well water. It came back over 10 milligrams per liter, which invalidated the water samples completely. They then learned he had essentially never cleaned or disinfected the hot tub at all. The department told him twice it had to be professionally cleaned before reopening. Instead, he cleaned it himself, tested using a method that isn't approved, and started renting it out once again. And they only found out because guests were mentioning the hot tub in public reviews. So the health department declared it as a public nuisance and legally shut it down until he could prove professional cleaning and a negative test. Hot tubs are perfect for this— warm water, neglected chlorine, and biofilm growing in the pipes where nobody looks. A previous CDC review found 50 outbreaks tied to hot tubs in the last 4 years, and they say that's likely an undercount. If you found this helpful, make sure to follow for more and send this to a person who loves using Airbnb hot tubs.
