A Large Outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease at a Flower Show, the Netherlands, 1999

In 1999, an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease affected many visitors to a flower show in the Netherlands. To identify the source of the outbreak, we performed an environmental investigation, as well as a case-control study among visitors and a serologic cohort study among exhibitors to measure exposure to possible sources. Of 77,061 visitors, 188 became ill (133 confirmed and 55 probable cases), for an attack rate of 0.23% for visitors and 0.61% for exhibitors. Two whirlpool spas in halls 3 and 4 of the exhibition and a sprinkler in hall 8 were culture positive for Legionella pneumophila. One... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Jeroen W. Den Boer
Ed P.F. Yzerman
Joop Schellekens
Kamilla D. Lettinga
Hendriek C. Boshuizen
Jim E. Van Steenbergen
Arnold Bosman
Susan Van den Hof
Hans A. Van Vliet
Marcel F. Peeters
Ruud J. Van Ketel
Peter Speelman
Jacob L. Kool
Marina A.E. Conyn Van Spaendonck
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2002
Reihe/Periodikum: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 37-43 (2002)
Verlag/Hrsg.: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Schlagwörter: Legionnaires’ disease / outbreaks / environmental microbiology / pulsed-field gel electrophoresis / case-control studies / cohort studies / Medicine / R / Infectious and parasitic diseases / RC109-216
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27581677
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3201/eid0801.010176

In 1999, an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease affected many visitors to a flower show in the Netherlands. To identify the source of the outbreak, we performed an environmental investigation, as well as a case-control study among visitors and a serologic cohort study among exhibitors to measure exposure to possible sources. Of 77,061 visitors, 188 became ill (133 confirmed and 55 probable cases), for an attack rate of 0.23% for visitors and 0.61% for exhibitors. Two whirlpool spas in halls 3 and 4 of the exhibition and a sprinkler in hall 8 were culture positive for Legionella pneumophila. One of three genotypes found in both whirlpool spas was identical to the isolates from 28 of 29 culture-positive patients. Persons who paused at the whirlpool spa in hall 3 were at increased risk for becoming ill. This study illustrates that whirlpool spas may be an important health hazard if disinfection fails.