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Rapid Identification of a Cooling Tower-Associated Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak Supported by Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing of Environmental Samples, New York City, 2014–2015
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Apr 2018
Source: J Environ Health. 80(8):8-12.
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Alternative Title:J Environ Health
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Description:We investigated an outbreak of eight Legionnaires' disease cases among persons living in an urban residential community of 60,000 people. Possible environmental sources included two active cooling towers (air-conditioning units for large buildings) <1 km from patient residences, a market misting system, a community-wide water system used for heating and cooling, and potable water. To support a timely public health response, we used real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify | DNA in environmental samples within hours of specimen collection. We detected | serogroup 1 DNA only at a power plant cooling tower, supporting the decision to order remediation before culture results were available. An isolate from a power plant cooling tower sample was indistinguishable from a patient isolate by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, suggesting the cooling tower was the outbreak source. PCR results were available <1 day after sample collection, and culture results were available as early as 5 days after plating. PCR is a valuable tool for identifying | DNA in environmental samples in outbreak settings.
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Pubmed ID:29780175
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Pubmed Central ID:PMC5956537
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