Legionella aerosol monitoring

Legionnaires’ disease was first recognized as a result of an outbreak of acute pneumonia that occurred at the Convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia USA in 1976. The route of infection has been recognized as the inhalation of small aerosol containing bacteria of the Legionella sp into the lungs of the host animal. The bacterium primarily responsible for this disease is Legionella pneumophila sero-group 1 Pontiac. It can result in typical Legionnaires’ disease an acute pneumonia with low attack rate and relatively high fatality rate or Pontiac fever, a mild non-pneumonia infection with a high attack rate.