Biomaterial Database

Legionnaires' Disease Outbreaks and Cooling Towers, New York City, New York, USA. 2017

Robert Fitzhenry, and Don Weiss, and Dan Cimini, and Sharon Balter, and Christopher Boyd, and Lisa Alleyne, and Renee Stewart, and Natasha McIntosh, and Andrea Econome, and Ying Lin, and Inessa Rubinstein, and Teresa Passaretti, and Anna Kidney, and Pascal Lapierre, and Daniel Kass, and Jay K Varma

The incidence of Legionnaires' disease in the United States has been increasing since 2000. Outbreaks and clusters are associated with decorative, recreational, domestic, and industrial water systems, with the largest outbreaks being caused by cooling towers. Since 2006, 6 community-associated Legionnaires' disease outbreaks have occurred in New York City, resulting in 213 cases and 18 deaths. Three outbreaks occurred in 2015, including the largest on record (138 cases). Three outbreaks were linked to cooling towers by molecular comparison of human and environmental Legionella isolates, and the sources for the other 3 outbreaks were undetermined. The evolution of investigation methods and lessons learned from these outbreaks prompted enactment of a new comprehensive law governing the operation and maintenance of New York City cooling towers. Ongoing surveillance and program evaluation will determine if enforcement of the new cooling tower law reduces Legionnaires' disease incidence in New York City.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007875	Legionella	Gram-negative aerobic rods, isolated from surface water or thermally polluted lakes or streams. Member are pathogenic for man. Legionella pneumophila is the causative agent for LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE.
D007877	Legionnaires' Disease	An acute, sometimes fatal, pneumonia-like bacterial infection characterized by high fever, malaise, muscle aches, respiratory disorders and headache. It is named for an outbreak at the 1976 Philadelphia convention of the American Legion.	Legionella pneumophila Infections,Infections, Legionella pneumophila,Legionnaire Disease,Pontiac Fever,Disease, Legionnaire,Disease, Legionnaires',Fever, Pontiac,Infection, Legionella pneumophila,Legionella pneumophila Infection,Legionnaire's Disease,Legionnaires Disease
D009519	New York City	City located at the mouth of the Hudson River, in New York State.
D004196	Disease Outbreaks	Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.	Outbreaks,Infectious Disease Outbreaks,Disease Outbreak,Disease Outbreak, Infectious,Disease Outbreaks, Infectious,Infectious Disease Outbreak,Outbreak, Disease,Outbreak, Infectious Disease,Outbreaks, Disease,Outbreaks, Infectious Disease
D004502	Education, Medical, Continuing	Educational programs designed to inform physicians of recent advances in their field.	Medical Education, Continuing,Continuing Medical Education,Education, Continuing Medical
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000389	Air Conditioning	The maintenance of certain aspects of the environment within a defined space to facilitate the function of that space; aspects controlled include air temperature and motion, radiant heat level, moisture, and concentration of pollutants such as dust, microorganisms, and gases. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)	Air Revitalization,Climate Control,Air Conditionings,Air Revitalizations,Climate Controls,Conditioning, Air,Conditionings, Air,Control, Climate,Controls, Climate,Revitalization, Air,Revitalizations, Air
D014871	Water Microbiology	The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.	Microbiology, Water
D015994	Incidence	The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases in the population at a given time.	Attack Rate,Cumulative Incidence,Incidence Proportion,Incidence Rate,Person-time Rate,Secondary Attack Rate,Attack Rate, Secondary,Attack Rates,Cumulative Incidences,Incidence Proportions,Incidence Rates,Incidence, Cumulative,Incidences,Person time Rate,Person-time Rates,Proportion, Incidence,Rate, Attack,Rate, Incidence,Rate, Person-time,Rate, Secondary Attack,Secondary Attack Rates