11 Facts About Legionnaires' disease

Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of Legionella bacteria, quite often Legionella pneumophila.

The Legionnaires' disease is named after the outbreak where it was first identified, at a 1976 American Legion convention in Philadelphia.

Up to half of those with Legionnaires' disease have gastrointestinal symptoms, and almost half have neurological symptoms, including confusion and impaired cognition.

Legionnaires' disease is usually spread by the breathing in of aerosolized water or soil contaminated with the Legionella bacteria.

The Legionnaires' disease is particularly associated with hotels, fountains, cruise ships, and hospitals with complex potable water systems and cooling systems.

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Legionnaires' disease acquired its name in July 1976, when an outbreak of pneumonia occurred among people attending a convention of the American Legion at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.

Legionnaires' disease became a prominent historical example of an emerging infectious disease.

Outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease receive significant media attention, but this disease usually occurs in single, isolated cases not associated with any recognized outbreak.

Medical diagnosis showed that Legionnaires' disease was responsible and the immediate epidemiological investigation traced the source of the infection to the air-conditioning cooling tower on the roof of Stafford District Hospital.

World's largest outbreak of Legionnaires' disease happened in July 2001, with people appearing at the hospital on 7 July, in Murcia, Spain.

On 28 August 2015, an outbreak of Legionnaire's Legionnaires' disease was detected at San Quentin State Prison in Northern California; 81 people were sickened and the cause was sludge that had built up in cooling towers.