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Legionnaires' disease outbreak: Victoria's largest identified outbreak.
N Formica1, G Tallis, B Zwolak
1Communicable Diseases Section, Department of Human Services, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. neil.formica@med.monash.edu.au
Communicable Diseases Intelligence
|September 12, 2000
Summary
A large outbreak of Legionnaires
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Infectious Diseases
- Environmental Health
Background:
- Legionnaires' disease is a severe respiratory infection caused by Legionella bacteria.
- Outbreaks pose significant public health challenges, requiring swift identification and control measures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the largest reported outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Victoria, Australia, in 1998.
- To identify the source and transmission routes of the Legionella outbreak.
Main Methods:
- Epidemiological investigation of 18 notified cases.
- Environmental sampling of cooling towers for Legionella bacteria.
- Molecular sub-typing (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) of clinical and environmental isolates.
Main Results:
- The outbreak involved 18 cases of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1, linked to an industrial estate.
- Legionella bacteria were detected in five cooling towers.
- Molecular analysis confirmed one cooling tower as the source for eight cases.
Conclusions:
- Rapid public health response is crucial for controlling Legionnaires' disease outbreaks.
- The Legionella urinary antigen test enabled a swift response.
- Culture and molecular sub-typing were vital for establishing epidemiological links and identifying the outbreak source.