Legionnaires’ disease, a serious pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria.
A recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Milan, Italy, has killed at least four people and hospitalized several dozen more. The subway. Health authorities say at least 53 cases of a serious lung infection have been confirmed in two regions within the Milan metropolitan area.
In response, local authorities are taking urgent measures to control the situation, including deploying chemicals to disinfect the city’s water supply. However, despite extensive testing of water supply systems in private homes and cooling towers, the exact source of the outbreak remains unknown, the news item.
The ongoing investigation into finding the source of the infection has left the city in great suspense, and sensitivity has arisen over what efforts should be made to prevent further cases.
What is Legionnaires’ disease?
According to one Washington Post report, Legionella infection is a serious form of pneumonia caused by the bacterium Legionella. The pathogen can also cause Pontiac fever, a flu-like illness that is considered a less serious illness.
The bacteria was first discovered decades ago when a mysterious illness sickened dozens of people at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia in 1976. That outbreak infected 221 people and killed 34.
The illness initially alarmed health officials, who feared it would spread beyond conference attendees. Ultimately, scientists found the bacteria grown in the water of a cooling tower of the air conditioning system of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, where the conference was held.
How does Legionnaires’ disease spread?
Legionella grows in biofilms along water pipes, pipes leading to showers, drinking faucets and HVAC systems for cooling, said Panagis Galiatsatos, associate professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, legionella can even grow in the tanks that hold windshield wiper fluid in a car.
People can become infected by breathing in mist or swallowing water into the lungs that is contaminated with the bacteria. “Less commonly, people can become ill from drinking drinking water that contains Legionella,” a CDC spokeswoman said Tuesday.
