Two more government buildings closed early on Friday after showing elevated levels of Legionella bacteria in the water system, the mayor’s office announced.

City Hall and the Abel Wolman building are among the latest buildings in the city to have water quality issues.

The city is cleaning these buildings and conducting system maintenance over the weekend to mitigate the spread of the bacteria, which can cause a severe type of pneumonia known as Legionnaires’ disease.

Precautionary testing for the Abel Wolman building happened on Dec. 12 and for City Hall on Dec. 18. Both buildings, which are located on Holliday Street, closed early on Friday.

The city also conducted testing at the Benton Building on East Fayette Street on Dec. 18, and results are expected by Jan. 5.

This comes just a week after three courthouses were found to be contaminated with Legionella bacteria.

Last week, the Baltimore City District Court on East Fayette Street and the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse and the Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse, both on Calvert Street, tested positive for Legionella bacteria, prompting closures. Both of the Calvert Street courthouses were closed on Dec. 20, Monday and Tuesday, and the East Fayette Street courthouse was closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the State Center office complex on West Preston Street and district court buildings on Wabash and Patapsco avenues tested positive for Legionella. In each of those cases, the state shut down the buildings and flushed and sanitized the water systems. They remain open to the public with warnings not to drink the building’s water, and will be flushed and sanitized again on Saturday.

The Baltimore City Health Department has not received any reports of confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease associated with the discovered presence of elevated levels of Legionella bacteria in some government buildings.

Still, the Department of Public Works is testing the public water system in impacted areas out of caution.

What is Legionella?

Legionella exists naturally in water bodies and can become a problem if it infiltrates pipes and grows, particularly in standing water.

People can become infected if they ingest tiny droplets of water. Though most people don’t fall sick from exposure to Legionella, some can develop Legionnaires’ disease.

Most healthy people exposed to Legionella do not get sick. Individuals who do get sick experience symptoms including cough, fever, headache, muscle aches and shortness of breath.