__________________ SEAFORD _________________
your HEALTH body / mind / fitness
November 18, 2021
With a focus on
Heal thy Holid ays
HERALD Here’s to healthy holidays Inside
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Vol. 69 No. 47
Students win poster contest
House severely damaged in fire
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NoVEMBER 18 - 24, 2021
Seaford rallies for county title By aNdREW CoEN sports@liherald.com
Karen Millindorf/Herald
SEafoRd RalliEd fRoM two sets down to defeat West Hempstead in the Nassau County Class B girls’ volleyball championship match Nov. 10 at LIU.
With its season — and school sports history — on the line, the Seaford girls’ volleyball team dug in at crunch time to capture the Nassau County championship over West Hempstead. After dropping the first two sets of the Class B finals and nearing the wrong end of a sweep, Seaford won the remaining 4 points of the third game to seize control of the match. The Vikings dominated the rest of the way en route to a 22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-7 victory at LIU Post on Nov. 10 to bring home the program’s first county title in two years. “We took a second to relax and breathe and play how we always play,” senior outside hitter Nicole Karaman said of the team’s positive mindset in spurring the turnaround. “It Continued on page 4
Health officials: Legionnaires’ outbreak has run its course By KatE NalEpiNSKi knalepinski@liherald.com
The cause of the Legionnaires’ disease cluster that broke out on the Wantagh-Levittown border may have been eliminated, Nassau County health officials said. Mary Ellen Laurain, spokeswoman for the Department of Health, said that the county conducted tests following last month’s outbreak, in which approximately 10 people who live within a one-mile radius of the corner of Wantagh Avenue and Old Jerusalem Road contracted Legionellosis. The testing was done to determine the
source of the infection. Laurain said she could not provide the details of the county’s investigation, but added that all samples that were tested for the bacteria came back negative. Legionellosis is a disease caused by a bacterium called Legionella, which is found naturally in the environment. It typically grows in warm water, in hot tubs, cooling towers, hotwater tanks or large plumbing systems and decorative fountains that are not properly maintained, according to the New York State Department of Health. People contract Le gion-
W
cases.
e haven’t seen any additional
MaRy EllEN lauRaiN
Spokeswoman, Nassau County Department of Health naires’ disease when they breathe in a mist or vapor containing the bacteria. In the recent local outbreak, 96-yearold John Liljehult died in midOctober after contracting the disease. All of the other individuals who became ill — the
youngest age 35 — recovered on their own or were hospitalized at St. Joseph’s Hospital, in Bethpage, or NYU Langone Hospital Long Island, in Mineola, and recovered. “We haven’t seen any additional cases, so we really feel like it’s most likely eradicated, which is what happens with Legionella,” Laurain said. “It’s
ubiquitous in the environment; it lives in water and soil.” Nassau County Legislator Steve Rhoads said he had been in regular contact with the county Health Department, and “they are optimistic that whatever condition caused the earlier infections was likely temporary and has resolved, as an Continued on page 11