Nine people have died and 87 people have been sickened by Legionnaires' disease in Flint, and those deaths could have been prevented, according to a Genesee County health official.
Speaking exclusively to CNN, Genesee County Health Director Jim Henry said he believed the deaths could have been prevented if it weren't for the state.
According to Henry, state officials kept the CDC away when the county wanted to look at the Flint River as the source of the increase in Legionnaires'.
"We were suspecting the city of Flint water supply," Henry told CNN. He was the supervisor at the time of the outbreak. "That was the big red flag."
Henry said he reached out to the CDC hoping they would have a team of people identify the source, but the CDC never showed up because state officials kept them away.
