Outbreaks

An exhaustive list of outbreaks is not possible as Legionnaires’ Disease is all too common. However a reasonably comprehensive list is maintained by HC Info.

Our Blog is also a useful place to get up-to-date commentary on Legionella related issues, including recent outbreaks. Some of the most famous outbreaks include:

• Philadelphia, 1976: The “original” outbreak occurred in July 1976 at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where members of the American Legion, a United States military veterans association, had gathered for the American Bicentennial. As many as 221 persons were given medical treatment; 34 died. In January 1977, the Legionella bacterium was finally identified and isolated, and found to be breeding in the cooling tower of the hotel’s air conditioning system.

• Netherlands, 1999: An outbreak in the Netherlands occurred during a flower exhibition in Bovenkarspel. 200 people became ill and 32 people died. The source of the bacteria were probably a whirlpool spa on display in the exhibition area.

• Australia, 2000: 93 people became ill, and 3 died in an outbreak which was later traced to the air conditioning cooling tower at the Melbourne Aquarium.

• Spain, 2001: The world’s largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease happened in Murcia, Spain, where more than 800 suspected cases were recorded and 6 died. The investigation implicated the cooling towers at a city hospital (Morales Meseguer Hospital). An environmental isolates supported this theory.

• Norway, 2001: The first known case of the disease in Norway occurred when 28 people were infected in the city of Stavanger, and seven died. The source was a cooling tower at the nearby SAS Radisson hotel. Only three of the infected had stayed at the hotel, but the exit vent of the cooling tower was at ground level next to a public bus stop, explaining the other victims.

• United Kingdom, 2002: Barrow-in-Furness suffered the U.K.’s worst outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. Six women and one man died as a result of the illness, another 172 people also contracted the disease. The cause was found to be a contaminated cooling tower at the town’s Forum 28 arts centre. Barrow Borough Council later became the first public body in the UK to be charged with corporate manslaughter, but were cleared. They were, however, along with architect Gillian Beckingham, fined for breaches of Health and Safety regulations.

• France, 2004: Researchers found that the Legionnaires’ disease bacteria spread through the air up to 6 kilometers from a large contaminated cooling tower at a petrochemical plant in Pas-de-Calais in northern France. That outbreak killed 21 of the 86 people with confirmed infection.

• Norway, 2005: The second major Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Norway, this time originating in the town of Fredrikstad. 52 patients were confirmed infected and ten people died. The source of the outbreak unexpectedly came from an air scrubber operated by Borregaard Industries in Sarpsborg. This was the first outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease traced to an air scrubber.

• Canada, 2005: At least 21 people died and over 100 fell ill during an outbreak at the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged in Toronto, Ontario.