Legionnaires' disease case at Missouri mental health center

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- State health officials said Thursday a case of Legionnaires' disease has been confirmed in a patient from the Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center in Farmington.

Debra Walker, a spokeswoman for the Department of Mental Health, said the mental health center was told about the case Wednesday after a 66-year-old man was taken to a hospital.

She said the man remained hospitalized Thursday in stable condition. No other cases have been found at the center, she said.

The Department of Health and Senior Services was at the Farmington center Thursday testing its water system.

Legionnaires' disease is a serious form of pneumonia, which is generally spread through breathing in droplets of bacteria in water. It is not typically spread from person to person.