Chicago

Illinois Lawmakers to Query Rauner Cabinet on Legionnaires'

The House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees plan a joint hearing Tuesday in Chicago

Lawmakers are scheduled to question members of Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration about the deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy.

The House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees plan a joint hearing Tuesday in Chicago on the illness that has contributed to the deaths of 13 residents since 2015 and sickened dozens of others.

Democratic Sen. Tom Cullerton of Villa Park is the chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. He expects testimony from Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Director Erica Jeffries and Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health . A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention representative will also attend.

The CDC declared in a report last week that eliminating the bacteria from the home's water is unlikely.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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