Disease, Legionnaire
A disease due to the bacteria <U>Legionella pneumophila</U> found in plumbing, shower heads and water-storage tanks.
Outbreaks of Legionella pneumonia have been attributed to evaporative condensers and cooling towers.
The bacteria thrives in the mist sprayed from air-conditioning ducts and so it can infest an entire building or airplane.
Travelers are especially vulnerable in the closed space within a plane.
Legionnaire disease can cause a massive pneumonia associated with collapse of the respiratory function.
It can be an overwhelming and sometimes fatal illness.
The disease was first identified as a sequel of the 1976 convention of the American Legion in some of those who had attended the convention.
It was therefore named Legionnaire disease.
The distinguished surgeon/writer Richard Selzer has recounted his own near-fatal experience with Legionnaire disease in 'Raising the Dead.
A Doctor's Encounter with His Own Mortality' (Whittle/Viking, New York, 1993).