ZEBULON- The GlaxoSmithKline manufacturing site has temporarily shutdown Tuesday after finding bacteria in the cooling towers.
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About 400 of the 850 factory employees, which is based in Zebulon, were told to stay away until the towers are cleaned, officials for the London-based company said.
He said legionella lives in various water supplies, and the sludge and slime often found at the bottom of commercial cooling towers help to promote the bacteria’s growth.
Earlier this month, New York City’s Department of Health ordered the inspection and cleaning of all cooling towers in the city after the same bacteria found in cooling tanks in the Bronx borough of the city causing 12 Legionnaires’ disease deaths.
‘We are trying to gather information on what the situation is, ‘ spokeswoman Jenni Brewer Ligday said.
All staff who work in the main site left the site and second and third shift employees are to be notified not to come to work until the issue has been fixed.
The Zebulon plant manufactures around 30 different GSK drugs in all, including malaria drug Malarone, HIV treatment Combivir and Requip for Parkinson’s disease, but its biggest product line is Advair, for asthma and chronic lung disease. “Obviously if it’s reclaim water, it would have nothing to do with our drinking water”. The bacteria does not spread from one person to another person.
According to the CDC, people catch Legionnaires’ disease by inhaling mist or vapor containing the bacteria.
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State and county health chiefs said they were not aware of any cases of Legionnaires’ disease – a potentially fatal form of pneumonia – associated with the Glaxo plant, adding that most people exposed to the bacteria do not become ill.
