A Large Outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease at a Flower Show, the Netherlands, 1999

Den Boer, Jeroen W.; Yzerman, Ed P.F.; Schellekens, Joop; Lettinga, Kamilla D.; Boshuizen, Hendriek C.; Van Steenbergen, Jim E.; Bosman, Arnold; Van den Hof, Susan; Van Vliet, Hans A.; Peeters, Marcel F.; Van Ketel, Ruud J.; Speelman, Peter; Kool, Jacob L.; Van Spaendonck, Marina A.E. Conyn

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A Large Outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease at a Flower Show, the Netherlands, 1999

Supporting Files Public Domain

Jan 2002
By Den Boer, Jeroen W. ; Yzerman, Ed P.F. ; Schellekens, Joop ; ...

Details

Alternative Title:

Emerg Infect Dis
Personal Author:

Den Boer, Jeroen W. ; Yzerman, Ed P.F. ; Schellekens, Joop ; Lettinga, Kamilla D. ; Boshuizen, Hendriek C. ; Van Steenbergen, Jim E. ; Bosman, Arnold ; Van den Hof, Susan ; Van Vliet, Hans A. ; Peeters, Marcel F. ; Van Ketel, Ruud J. ; Speelman, Peter ; Kool, Jacob L. ; Van Spaendonck, Marina A.E. Conyn
Description:

In 1999, an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease affected many visitors to a flower show in the Netherlands. To identify the source of the outbreak, we performed an environmental investigation, as well as a case-control study among visitors and a serologic cohort study among exhibitors to measure exposure to possible sources. Of 77,061 visitors, 188 became ill (133 confirmed and 55 probable cases), for an attack rate of 0.23% for visitors and 0.61% for exhibitors. Two whirlpool spas in halls 3 and 4 of the exhibition and a sprinkler in hall 8 were culture positive for Legionella pneumophila. One of three genotypes found in both whirlpool spas was identical to the isolates from 28 of 29 culture-positive patients. Persons who paused at the whirlpool spa in hall 3 were at increased risk for becoming ill. This study illustrates that whirlpool spas may be an important health hazard if disinfection fails.
Subjects:

Adult Aged Aged, 80 And Over Antibodies, Bacterial Case-control Studies Cohort Studies Disease Outbreaks Environmental Microbiology Female Genotype Humans Hydrotherapy Legionella Pneumophila Legionnaires' Disease Legionnaires’ Disease Male Middle Aged Netherlands Outbreaks Pulsed-field Gel Electrophoresis Research Risk Assessment Seroepidemiologic Studies
Source:

Emerg Infect Dis. 8(1):37-43.
Document Type:

Journal Article
Volume:

8
Issue:

1
Collection(s):

Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:9d99163733af382346c953cad3710cd23ede022ae7ce92ff9cfe200dc5b4896f
Download URL:

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/13774/cdc_13774_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 288.83 KB ]

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