HOUSTON -- Two hospitals in The Woodlands dealt with more than a dozen patients possibly infected with Legionnaires disease, News2Houston reported Monday.

Health department officials confirmed 13 cases of Legionella pneumophila, the bacterium that can cause Legionnaire's disease.

Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital treated the patients.

Officials said those reporting symptoms of Legionnaires disease had recently returned to Houston from a Christian home school basketball tournament in Oklahoma City, where they all stayed in the same hotel.

Maria Morrow learned her family might have been exposed at the Comfort Suites in Oklahoma City, where several Texas teams spent the week.

"My kids were sick and it was miserable," Morrow said. "When a bunch of them fall sick at the same time, it doesn't make sense."

"I wanted to stay in the hotel room and (lay) in bed," a student said.

"Every day, we had more people that were sick," said Stephanie Vergadamo, a parent.

Several families are seeking legal advice in case the motel proves negligent in any way.

"We need to find out where it came from," a Montgomery County health official said. "It's usually picked up through cooling towers, inadequate maintenance or cross connection from the droplets of water dispersed through the air."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the symptoms are similar to pneumonia:

Loss of energy
Headache
Nausea
High fever
Coughing
Chills
Chest pains

The illness is usually spread through infected air conditioning and is not spread from person-to-person.

Patients diagnosed with the disease were listed in good or fair condition Monday.

The Oklahoma State Health Department is conducting an investigation.

Environmental samples are being taken from the motel and other locations.