Case of Legionnaire's disease prompts Mountaineer to suspend racing

Mountaineer Park in Chester, W.Va., has suspended live racing for the next two weeks due to the diagnosis of at least one case of Legionnaire’s disease among its employees, according to officials with knowledge of the situation.

Mountaineer Park distributed an announcement about a suspension of live racing through Nov. 7 on Saturday evening. The notice claimed the track was suspending operations in order to conduct “some improvements at our racetrack,” but did not specify the improvements.

Officials at Mountaineer or its parent company, El Dorado Resorts, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages.

Jana Tetrault, the executive director of the Mountaineer Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said that horsemen have not been informed about the reason behind the suspension, but she noted that the track’s grandstand and clubhouse were closed on Monday and that “there are crews over there working and cleaning,” she said.

“We’ve asked them to keep us informed about what the situation is,” Tetrault said.

Tetrault said that Mountaineer is maintaining the same training hours and that horsemen are free to use the training track and have not been barred from the backside. She also said that Mountaineer, which races on a Sunday through Wednesday schedule, has said that it will attempt to add racing dates to its schedule to make up for the lost days.

Jackie L. Huff, the administrator of the Hancock County Health Department, said on Monday morning that her staff has received multiple calls from employees of the track about a health problem, but she said Mountaineer has not yet responded to inquiries from the department.

“We’re receiving calls from family members and people who work at the track about concerns there,” she said. “We are investigating.”

Joe Moore, the executive director of the West Virginia Racing Commission, said that he has been informed about the suspension and had heard rumors about the health problems, but he said those rumors had not yet been confirmed.

Legionnaire’s disease is a rare but serious form of pneumonia that often is spread through a contaminated water system. The disease is caused by a bacterium that can be breathed into the lungs through water droplets or vapor.

Mountaineer is scheduled to conduct live racing through Nov. 28. The notice distributed by the track on Saturday noted that its casino and hotel will remain open during the suspension of live racing.