In all of Genesee County, there is one lab technician testing blood lead samples.

Peggy Abram, a medical technologist, is the sole person checking blood samples for lead at the Genesee County Health Department, according to herself and sources. The slow, 30-day response for whether blood tests are positive for lead is more apparent now than ever.

Ms. Abrams says the County Health Department gets over 30 walk-in blood tests a day, plus all of the samples collected at testing clinics like the one held yesterday at Carriage Town Ministries. Abram and her two co-workers say they have asked for extra resources for the lab, but have not received any help.

Families are losing time on knowing what’s in their blood, as the workload increases.

DTV has tried to get more information, but so far has gotten no response from the Genesee County Health Department.

Earlier today in a press conference held in Detroit, Gov. Rick Snyder took the podium once again to add more fuel to fire burning around the Flint water situation.  A sudden spike in cases of Legionella, also known as Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever.  There have been 10 deaths in 87 cases of Legionnaires reported in Genesee County.  5 of the deaths were from people who were on Flint water.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that Legionella bacterium thrives in warm, stagnant water, like the kind found in hot tubs, cooling towers, and hot water tanks.
Infection occurs when the mist or vapor containing the bacteria is inhaled. You can read more about the disease here.

But here’s the real kicker: although all of the cases are not directly connected to Flint water yet, the spikes of Legionnaires coincides with the timing of the initial switch to Flint River water.

This information came after Snyder’s announcement last night that the Michigan National Guard would be in Flint today to hand out water and water filters.

From unhealthy to potentially deadly, the problems faced by Snyder and the people of Flint continue to pile on, and there seems to be no sign of the bad news slowing down.