Legionnaire's Disease At Philadelphia Field Office

From KYW in Philadelphia:

An employee at the Philadelphia office of the Social Security Administration has come down with a case of Legionnaire's disease, and health officials are stressing that this is an isolated incident.

The unidentified female worker was stricken early this month. Another employee has tested positive for Legionella bacteria but hasn't picked up any symptoms.

No one is panicking. Social Security spokeswoman Terry Lewis says an investigation has found that there's no reason to believe that the bacteria is lurking the building, at 4th and Spring Garden Streets:

"Because of the fact that Legionnaire's disease is generally through the air or air conditioning systems or water, we had a number of experts come in and do extensive testing of both of those systems and no presence of Legionella was found in either the air or the water."

The Philadelhpia Department of Health says Legionnaire's disease is not uncommon. It handles 25 to 50 cases each year. Symptoms include fever, chills, abdominal pain, and pneumonia.

You may remember that Legionnaire's disease takes its name from a mass outbreak of the disease at a convention of the American Legion. That convention was in Philadelphia. I imagine the people there remember that event.

By the way, how does a radio station in Philadelphia have call letters that start with "K?" I thought that only stations West of the Mississippi started with "K." I know that only the oldest stations have only three letters. There must be some history here.