[Legionella sp.--laboratory diagnosis of infections in humans and detection in environmental water]

Legionella sp. is the etiological agent of Legionnaires Disease and the Pontiac Fever, one of the new emerging diseases. Legionella are common in natural environment but in low number of bacteria cells, especially in comparison to other bacterial flora. Because of special nutritious requirement and long time of Legionella generation, the isolation of bacteria and the diagnosis of legionellosis cause many problems. In this publication some methods for detection of Legionella sp. in environmental water and clinical samples are presented and evaluated.