Travel associated legionnaires' disease in Europe in 2000 and 2001

The European Surveillance Scheme for Travel Associated Legionnaires' Disease (EWGLINET) was notified of 360 cases in 2000 and 481 cases in 2001, the highest number reported since 1987. This increase reflects enhanced surveillance activities, especially in the Netherlands, France and Italy, mainly through urinary antigen detection test (78% of cases in 2001). The median delay in reporting to the scheme fell to under 30 days, at the cost of some loss of information on the outcomes of illness. In 2000, 28 clusters were detected compared to 72 in 2001, most of this rise resulting from a change in the definition of clusters. In 2000 and 2001, 55 and 140 environmental investigations were reported respectively.