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 ...
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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
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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-28759476 |
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.