Drugmaker Shuts Down Factory After Discovering Legionnaires’ Disease

Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

A factory for drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was suddenly shut down Tuesday after the discovery of the deadly bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ Disease.

The plant in Zebulon, North Carolina manufactures inhaled medications and employs around 850 people.  The bacteria was discovered in one of the plant’s cooling towers leading to the factory’s immediate closure.

“We are trying to gather information on what the situation is,” GSK spokeswoman Jenni Brewer Ligday said in statement to the Associated Press. GSK is also working to gather “more details on whether product has been impacted and, if they have, what is our procedure in place to handle that.”

“The cooling tower is a standalone structure, which does not come into contact with product manufactured at the facility,” added GSK spokesman Marti Jordan.

GSK officials said that the plant remains shut down but the campus of the company remains open and there is no threat to the general public.

The plant focuses on production of drugs for asthma patients such as Advair.

GSK said the plant is tested every three months for potentially hazardous bacteria like Legionnaires’.

The news of the closure comes on the heels of New York City dealing with the worst outbreak of Legionnaires’ in the city’s history, leaving 12 people dead and over 110 sickened.

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