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WNC Career Expo Moved From Ag Center Following Legionnaires' Outbreak

WNC Ag Center
The Davis Event Center has been temporarily closed at the WNC Ag Center until a cleanup plan is finished

Next week's WNC Career Expo has been moved from the Davis Event Center at the WNC Ag Center, the second event to be affected by an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease tied to last month's Mountain State Fair which was held at the Ag Center in Fletcher.  The outbreak is the largest recorded of Legionnaires' in North Carolina history.

The WNC Career Expo will now be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville on October 29th from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  It was supposed to occur at the Davis Event Center on October 17th, but the  temporary closure of the facility following an investigation into the Legionnaire's outbreak forced the move. 

That closure came after state health investigators last week revealed that fairgoers who contracted Legionnaires' were more likely to have  entered the Davis Event Center and walked by the hot tub displays.  They were also more likely to have attended the event which took place September 6th to 15th, during the end of the fair.  More than 130 people have contracted Legionnaires', with one confirmed death.  Legionnaires' is contracted from breathing in the Legionella bacteria in aerosolized water droplets.  Most of those who contracted the disease are over the age of 60 according to health officials.

The Asheville Gun & Knife Show, which was supposed to occur at the Davis Event Center last weekend, was cancelled once the Ag Center announced it was closing the facility temporarily out of an "abundance of caution and to reassure event attendees, fairgoers and Ag Center employees that the center is safe."  The WNC Career Expo is the second event to be affected.  “We appreciate WNC Ag Center’s efforts to mitigate health concerns," said April Brown, Director of Existing Industry & Workforce Development for the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce in a statement.  "We also appreciate the U.S. Cellular Center stepping in to host the WNC Career Expo on short notice as well as the efforts of our partners to help us share info of the new date and location with the community.” 

Matt Bush joined Blue Ridge Public Radio as news director in August 2016. Excited at the opportunity the build up the news service for both stations as well as help launch BPR News, Matt made the jump to Western North Carolina from Washington D.C. For the 8 years prior to coming to Asheville, he worked at the NPR member station in the nation's capital as a reporter and anchor. Matt primarily covered the state of Maryland, including 6 years of covering the statehouse in Annapolis. Prior to that, he worked at WMAL in Washington and Metro Networks in Pittsburgh, the city he was born and raised in.
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