BugLab ID's DNA Lab Test Quickly & Accurately Identifies Legionella in Chicago Family's Home

CHICAGO - April 14, 2014 - PRLog -- CHICAGO, IL - During a random field test of selected homes in the Chicago area, American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) School home inspectors found potentially deadly legionella, the bacteria which causes Legionnaires' disease, in stale water sitting within a faulty air conditioning duct in the attic of a Chicago family's home.

Legionella acquired its name after a July 1976 outbreak of a then-unknown "mystery disease" sickened 221 persons, causing 34 deaths among people attending a convention of the American Legion at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.  A milder infection, also caused by Legionella bacteria is called Pontiac fever. According to the CDC, Legionnaires' disease can have symptoms like many other forms of pneumonia, so it is hard to diagnosis at first.  Signs of Legionnaires' disease include: cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle aches and headaches. These symptoms usually begin 2 to 14 days after being exposed to the bacteria. The fatality rate for Legionnaires' disease has ranged from 5 percent to 30 percent during various outbreaks. However, many times the disease can be cured with antibiotics after it is properly identified as the problem.

"It is also very important to take samples for laboratory testing, said Frank Lesh, executive director of ASHI. The wise ASHI School home inspectors immediately took a sample of the stale water in the A/C duct in the attic with a BugLab ID kit and then sent it overnight to BugLab ID's DNA Bacteria Lab. "Our ASHI School home inspectors did a wonderful job in realizing the stale water in the faulty A/C duct in the attic needed to be tested immediately for proper safety," said Jack McGraw, national director of the ASHI School.

BugLab ID is a strategic partner of ASHI in providing proper lab testing of all types of bad bacteria. "We are very glad BugLab ID's lab test could help identify legionella bacteria in this family's home in Chicago, said Martin Hale, managing partner at Bug Lab ID. "BugLab ID's proprietary DNA Lab Testing in state-of-the-art not only for our ability to accurately identify bad bacteria, but we also do so in only a few short hours versus the services of other labs which take many days to identify bad bacteria," Hale continued.

"We teach our home inspectors that ethics and morality in decision-making are crucial in the services we provide and we are thankful BugLab ID's DNA Bacteria Lab Testing has the same core values," said Lesh.

The Chicago family was extremely happy to learn the legionella bacteria was found, properly tested and accurately identified before they turned their a/c system on throughout their home late this spring.  If it was not properly tested and identified, the legionella bacteria could have traveled throughout the entire home through the duct system and made the entire family sick or worse.

"We can't preach enough the lesson to send anything you think could be bad bacteria for DNA lab testing with BugLab ID, said Martin Hale.  "We can help, just like we did with our strategic partner, ASHI, to help protect this terrific Chicago family because we think of them the way we would our own family," Hale continued.

ABOUT ASHI

American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) was founded in 1976.  ASHI's goal is to build consumer awareness and enhance the professionalism within the field of home inspection. The nonprofit association advocates for the high standard of practice and strict code of ethics for the community. The mission of ASHI is to meet the needs of its home inspector membership and promote excellence and exemplary practice within the profession. For more info, visit http://www.ashi.org.

THE ASHI SCHOOL

The ASHI School is the leader in home inspection education and in-field training. It offers home inspection training with commercial inspection classes across the U.S. The ASHI School is a for-profit arm of ASHI. For more information, visit http://www.theashischool.com.

ABOUT BUGLAB ID

BugLab ID is a leading DNA bacteria lab testing company. We utilize the most advanced, real-time DNA technology available today. At BugLab ID, we offer all our customers the fastest and most accurate lab testing identification service through our proprietary lab testing methods. A few of the important bacteria and household pests we test for include, but are not limited to: Legionella, Norovirus, MRSA, E. Coli, Mold, Lyme Disease/Ticks, Bed Bug, Lice, Fleas/SuperFleas, Rodents/Roaches/Other Insects. For more information, visit us online at http://www.buglabid.com.