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Durbin Wants Review Of Outbreak At Quincy Veterans Home

Jason Parrott

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin wants a federal review of the state's response to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak that killed 12 residents of a western Illinois veterans home. 

He asked the secretaries of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs Monday to ``ensure the Illinois Veterans' Home-Quincy is taking the proper steps'' to care for its nearly 400 residents and to prevent a future outbreak.  

All but one of the 13 Quincy residents to die from Legionnaires' since August lived at the 129-year-old facility. More than 40 others at the home were diagnosed with the disease, including five workers.  

The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs says its water treatment and cleaning efforts at the home have likely stopped the spread of disease.

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