Bali tourists,
14 cases, Aug.-Dec. 2010
Fourteen tourists who visited Bali between August and December
contracted Legionnaires' disease. Nearly all of the first 10 confirmed
cases required treatment in an ICU. Their ages ranged from 41 to 82
years. Another person, considered a possible case of LD, died in Bali
from pneumonia. Health officials identified a hotel as the source of the
infections.
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Madrid, 46
cases and 5 deaths, Nov. 2010
Health officials in Madrid are still investigating an outbreak of
Legionnaires' disease that has affected 46 people since late October. As
of November 13th, five had died, seven were still in the hospital, 30
had been discharged, and four had not required hospitalization.
Investigators have inspected at least 736 cooling towers, 12 of which
were ordered closed.
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Wales'largest outbreak, Sept. 2010
As of September 23, officials from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE),
Public Health Wales (PHW), and eight South Wales localities had not been
able to pinpoint the source of Legionella that caused 22 cases of
Legionnaires' disease. Two people have died, a 64-year old woman and a
74-year old man. Having identified no single building visited by all the
people who became ill, the investigators are focusing on cooling towers.
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Slovenia
nursing home, 4 cases, Aug. 2010
Between August 8 and 28, 2010, a total of 15 of the 234 residents showed
symptoms of Legionnaires' disease. Cases ranged in age from 37 to 80
years (average was 55 years). The full report is at
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19672.
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Bali vacationers, 2 cases, Aug. 2010
Two Australians who traveled independently to Bali contracted
Legionnaires' disease in August. Both stayed at the same hotel, with
overlapping trips between July 29 and August 8.
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Maryland assisted living facility, 2
cases, Aug. 2010
Two residents of a Maryland (USA) assisted living facility contracted
Legionnaire's disease. Both were hospitalized and recovered. The
facility implemented water restrictions on September 2 per the county
health department's recommendation. Source: Washington Post.
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US
military base in Michigan, 6 cases, August 2010
Legionnaires' disease has been identified in six civilians who worked at
or had visited an Air National Guard base in Michigan. The first three
cases were diagnosed in late July. The sixth case was diagnosed on
August 4th. Workers were moved out of the buildings believed to have
been associated with the cases until the water was disinfected and
tested, according to Army health command leaders. In July, A bacterial
outbreak at the same base sickened more than 30 people. Source: news
media.
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Whirlpool spa in France, 3 cases, 1 death, May
2010
French investigators identified a public whirlpool spa as the most
probable source of three LD cases that were confirmed in May. The first
case involved a woman in her early 70s who used a sauna located in the
room with the whirlpool spa in late April, but did not use the spa. She
developed LD symptoms three days later, was hospitalized, and survived
after antibiotic treatment. Another woman visited the spa six days after
the first case did and was in the room with the whirlpool. She was
diagnosed by urinary antigen and died just a few days later despite
intensive antibiotic treatment. She was in her early 50s. The third
case, a man in his early 30s, visited the spa 17 days after Case 1 did.
He used the whirlpool spa and was diagnosed with LD and hospitalized. He
recovered after antibiotic treatment. Case 1 had an underlying chronic
disease, Case 2 was a smoker, but Case 3 had no risk factors. The
whirlpool spa was closed by health authorities three days after
notification of the second case. Legionella (150,000 cfu/l Lp1) was
found in samples collected from the spa at that time. The Lp1 strains
found in the water and in the patients were indistinguishable by
monoclonal antibody subtyping, sequence-based typing, and PFGE. Source:
Campese C, Roche D, Clément C, Fierobe F, Jarraud S, de Waelle P, Perrin
H, Che D. Cluster of Legionnaires´ disease associated with a public
whirlpool spa, France, April – May 2010. Euro Surveill.
2010;15(26):pii=19602. Available online:
http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=19602.
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Water wall, 8 cases, March 2010
In March, health officials blamed a water wall at a hospital in
Wisconsin for eight cases of Legionnaires' disease. The hospital turned
off the water wall with no plans to restart it.
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Germany’s largest outbreak, Dec. 2009
Around the end of 2009, approximately 65 German residents ranging from
27 to 96 years of age contracted Legionnaires' disease, five of whom
died. Nearly all of them lived or worked in Ulm or Neu-Ulm, in southwest
Germany. The investigators suspected a cooling tower was the source of
contamination even though the outbreak occurred in winter.
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Hospital
in UK, Dec. 2009
Two patients at a hospital in Essex contracted Legionnaires' disease.
The hospital reported that water test results indicated it was the
probable source. As of the 8 January report, both patients had responded
to antibiotics but one was still in a critical condition. Source: BBC
News
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Retirement community in Illinois, Fall
2009, 2 Deaths
Three confirmed and seven suspected cases of Legionnaires' disease
occurred among residents of a retirement community in the Chicago area.
Two have died. The first case died in September; the subsequent cases
were identified in November. A rain forest, water fall, and spa located
in the atrium of the facility were shut down by investigators. Source:
Daily Herald
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Hotel in Miami, Fall 2009, 3 cases
Three guests of a hotel in Miami contracted Legionnaires' and one died.
A European man left on a cruise after staying at the hotel in late
September but was rushed back to a hospital where he died. A second man
contracted LD while at the hotel in late November. Health officials did
not recognize the outbreak until December when a third case occurred in
a woman who visited the hotel. Source: Miami Herald
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Senior apartment complex in
Baltimore, Oct. 2009, 6 cases
Six elderly residents contracted Legionnaires' disease, one of whom
died. The outbreak was investigated in October. Source: Baltimore Sun
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Hong Kong, 2
Cases, July 2009
Two confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease occurred in two Hong Kong
men ages 62 and 54. The source of contamination was not identified in
the news report. Source: media-newswire.com
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Alcoy, Spain, 11 cases, Summer 2009
Eleven people contracted Legionnaires' disease in Alcoy this summer, one
of whom has died. Investigators believed that spring water used in the
road resurfacing machinery was the source of contamination. [Details of
the investigation, and the bases for implicating the spring water, were
not given in the news report.]
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Meat plant pressure washer, UK, 2
cases
A meat processing plant in the UK was fined 25,000 british pounds
because 2 of its 50 workers contracted Legionnaires' disease and were
hospitalized. The firm had to pay an additional £20,000 after pleading
guilty to failing to protect its employees from Legionella in the
plumbing system. Investigators concluded that Legionella bacteria were
transmitted from a pressure washer used for cleaning the plant. The
pressure washer was supplied with hot water that became stagnant on
weekends. Both men survived, but one of them missed a significant period
of work. Source: lep.co.uk/news
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LD cases
among fans at world handball championships, Croatia, Feb. 2009
Four Norwegians, one Danish, one Swede, one Croat, and about twelve
Serbians who attended the World Handball Championships in Croatia
contracted Legionnaires' disease last month. Preliminary epidemiologic
evidence indicated that the source of the illness was probably in the
sports halls rather than in the hotels where the fans were staying. None
of the players became ill with the disease.
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Hospital, Atlanta (USA), 4 Cases,
Jan. 2009
A State of Georgia epidemiologist said that four patients diagnosed with
Legionnaires’ disease in January appear to have contracted the disease
during their stay at Atlanta’s largest hospital. The hospital reported
that all four patients were responding well to antibiotics. Legionella
was found in water samples collected from rooms on the hospital floors
where the four patients had stayed. The hospital closed those floors
until water samples tested negative for Legionella following
chlorination procedures. Top
Hotel in Dubai, 3 cases, 1 death, Jan. 2009
A 69-year-old British broadcaster died on 29 January after contracting
Legionnaires' disease. The man stayed at a 5-star hotel in Dubai in
mid-January and returned to the UK on 20 January. Two other guests of
the same hotel contracted the disease and recovered.
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