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Pathology => Human Diseases => Legionnaires' Disease
Legionnaires' Disease
Legionnaires' Disease, severe form of pneumonia, characterized by headache, chest pain, lung congestion, and high fever. The name is derived from an outbreak at an American Legion convention in a Philadelphia hotel in July 1976. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later succeeded in identifying the causative agent as a previously unknown rod-shaped bacterium (Legionella pneumophila). Other local outbreaks were then linked to the disease. The bacterium is most commonly transmitted through contaminated water sources; it is not readily transmitted from person to person. Treatment with the antibiotic erythromycin is effective.
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