Investigation of atmospheric conditions fostering the spreading of legionnaires' disease in outbreaks related to cooling towers. 2019

Diego Villanueva, and Kerstin Schepanski
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Permoser Str. 15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany. villanueva@tropos.de.

Legionnaires' disease (LD) is a severe lung infection caused by the bacteria Legionella pneumophila which is usually associated with water managing installations like cooling towers. Several outbreaks of LD have been linked to individual sources of bioaerosol in the past. However, the transmission pathways as well as the influence of meteorological factors in the spreading of such bioaerosols remain unclear. Using the meteorological data near 12 LD outbreaks in Europe for the period 2000-2016, the correlation between key meteorological factors and the occurrence of LD was assessed. Temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, precipitation, cloud cover and, for the first time, fog occurrence were included as potential risk factors. It was found that the occurrence of fog was related to four of the LD outbreaks, suggesting that the presence of fog droplets and/or the thermal inversions associated with fog may play a role in the disease spreading. This finding can contribute to outbreak investigations and to the prevention of future outbreaks.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
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
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
D005060 Europe The continent north of AFRICA, west of ASIA and east of the ATLANTIC OCEAN. Northern Europe,Southern Europe,Western Europe
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014871 Water Microbiology The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms. Microbiology, Water
D016952 Legionella pneumophila A species of gram-negative, aerobic bacteria that is the causative agent of LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE. It has been isolated from numerous environmental sites as well as from human lung tissue, respiratory secretions, and blood.

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