Legionella

Diary Entry #4: Legionella Biography

Posted on by Robyn McDaniel

Dear Diary,

Here is a biography on my microbe:

Legionella pneumophila is transmitted airborne via water droplets. There were 6,100 cases of Legionnaires’ disease reported in the year of 2016. The following symptoms show after two to 14 days after exposure: high fever, chills, coughing, muscle ache, headache, shortness of breath, and fatigue; symptoms typically take seven days to show. The CDC can analyze Legionnaires’ disease via chest x-rays, phlegm, blood, or urine. Those at risk are 65 or older, have weakened immune system, smoke, or have lung disease. Legionnaires’ disease is treated by 1 to 3 weeks on a drip or tablet antibiotic, majority of patients make a recovery. Health authorities must be notified if a case of Legionnaires’ disease is diagnosed to trace the source of the outbreak. Interesting enough, Legionella pneumophila is very common in rivers and ponds, but the numbers are low, it’s considered harmless.

Places/areas/surfaces L. pneumophila can be transmitted:

Water systems in hotels (Primary outbreak)

Legionnaires’ disease got its name in 1976 when the first outbreak affected 182 people attending the American Legion Convention hosted in Philadelphia; this outbreak killed 29 people. The outbreak’s source was the convention hotel’s air conditioning system, as well as contaminated water or mist.

The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, location of the first Legionnaires’ disease outbreak

Cruise ships (yup, in the middle of the ocean)

CDC reported during November 2003 through May 2004, eight cases of Legionnaires disease (LD) had a common factor and emphasized the need for identification and reporting of cases to facilitate the investigation.

Hospitals

Fourteen patients, three patients died due to other health conditions, after contracting Legionnaires’ disease in a UW Health hospital at the end of 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin. After the outbreak, the hospital eliminated the bacteria by clearing the hot water system with high levels of chlorine.

Me on the way out, avoid the outbreak

Grocery store mist machines

Louisiana had 34 patients diagnosed with Legionnaires’ Disease during October and November of 1989. Most patients shopped at a Winn-Dixie grocery store for roughly 30 minutes within ten days of onset symptoms. The patients were shopping for produce items near or at the mist machines. Researchers determined that aerosols from the mist machine were the cause of the outbreak, leading to thousands of grocery stores discontinuing produce mist machines.

Nursing home

Two patients in Richlandtown, PN living in a care center were infected with Legionnaires’ disease during January of 2019, one passing away due to other health factors. Another nursing facility was affected on April 22 of this year in Albert Lea, Minnesota. One of the residents at St. John’s Fountain Lake senior community has contracted Legionnaires’ disease at the facility; there have been five cases between June and August of summer 2018.

Also, pool or bath toys (throw the cute rubber ducky away), swimming pools (just in time for spring/summer), hot tubs (how romantic), whirlpools, cooling towers in air conditioning units, decorative fountains, and physical therapy equipment are known surfaces used to transmit Legionnaires’ disease.

Even Disneyland?!

Disneyland had a L. pneumophila outbreak during September of 2017. 9 of 12 patients experiencing symptoms visited Disneyland and the remaining three live or traveled to Anaheim, California; one of the patients has passed away. Orange County Health Care Agency stated the Legionnaire’s was discovered in late October. Disneyland had high levels of bacteria found in its two cooling towers; therefore, they were closed and sterilized and were shortly reopened.

References

Addmaster. “Ten Facts About Legionella.” Addmaster Additives for Industry, www.addmaster.co.uk/biomaster/bacteria-facts/ten-facts-about-legionella.

Ellison, Ayla. “3 Patients Die after Contracting Legionnaires’ Disease in Wisconsin Hospital: Fourteen Patients Contracted Legionnaires’ Disease during an Outbreak Linked to the Water System at UW Health’s University Hospital in Madison, Wis., and Three of Those Patients Have Died, According to the Wisconsin State Journal.” Becker’s Hospital Review, 18 Dec. 2018, www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/3-patients-die-after-contracting-legionnaires-disease-in-wisconsin-hospital.html.

Legionnaires’ Disease News. “Albert Lea Nursing Facility Hit Again.” Legionnaires’ Disease News, 22 Apr. 2019, www.legionnairesdiseasenews.com/2019/04/albert-lea-nursing-facility-hit-again/.

Legionnaires’ Disease News. “First 2019 Outbreak Results in Death in Pennsylvania.” Legionnaires’ Disease News, 11 Jan. 2019, www.legionnairesdiseasenews.com/2019/01/first-2019-outbreak-results-death-pennsylvania/.

Live Science. “5 Things You Should Know About Legionnaires’ Disease.” LiveScience, Purch, 28 Aug. 2012, www.livescience.com/22760-5-things-you-should-know-about-legionnaires-disease.html.

Mahoney, F J, et al. “Communitywide Outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease Associated with a Grocery Store Mist Machine.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 1992, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1552203.

Naham, Matt. “Disneyland Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak: 5 Things to Know.” AJC, Cmgsharedcontent.com, 12 Nov. 2017, www.ajc.com/news/national/disneyland-legionnaires-disease-outbreak-things-know/zLqvS3pDryw25d8xKN1g0H/

Diary Entry #2: Getting to Know Legionella

Posted on by Robyn McDaniel

Dear Diary,

So, I wanted to know more about Legionella pneumophila, so I went to Google and did my research. Legionella pneumophila is a single cell, filamentous, gram-negative, rod (cocci) shaped bacteria between two to 20 micrometers long. This gives L. Pneumophilathe ability to exist in lakes and rivers but also in aquatic biofilm, cooling towers, and air conditioning units. Intracellular vacuoles are how the host cell is manipulated to cause disease. Legionella has 39 species to date and 60 types of specific antigenic. Legionella is typically transmitted via aerosol but can be found in drinking water or surfaces.

 

The bacterium’s genome size is 45 kilobase pairs. The L. Pneumophilahuman genome, serogroup 12 strain 570-CO-H, has been sequenced. Mikesell and Knudson observed sixteen strains from six serogroups of L. pneumophila. A serogroup, or serotype, is used to classify variations within a species of microorganisms.

 

Two strains, Atlanta-1 and Atlanta-2, (how ironic) from serogroup II, contained one plasmid, both had the molecular weight of ca. 30 megadaltons. L. Pneumophila contains lipopolysaccharide, type II secretion system, and outer membrane proteins. There are minimal PHBA inclusion bodies. They also contain a bacterial envelope which is vital for a component in the pathogenesis of the disease. The bacterium uses a LadC-negative mutant, flagellum specific, to adhere to the host to cause disease. L. Pneumophila have flagella and pili, both used for locomotion.

Anyway, that’s all I could find for today. If I find more information, I’ll update on a different page. Talk to you later.

 

Robyn

P.S. Here are some videos to help you understand a little more about Legionella

 

References

CDC. “Legionnaires Disease Cause and Spread | Legionella | CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 Apr. 2018, www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/causes-transmission.html.

Health and Safety Executive. “What Is Legionnaires’ Disease?” HSE, www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/what-is.htm.

Mikesell, Perry, and Gregory B Knudson. “A Plasmid in Legionella Pneumophila.” INFECTIONAND IMMUNITY, vol. 29, no. 3, Sept. 1980, pp. 1092–1095., iai.asm.org/content/iai/29/3/1092.full.pdf.

Miller, Richard D, and Martha J Tesh. “Amino Acid Requirements for Legionella Pneumophila.” JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY, Vol. 13, No. 5, May 1981, pp. 865–868.

Shevchuk, Olga, et al. “Virulence Properties of the Legionella Pneumophila Cell Envelope.” Frontiers in Microbiology, Frontiers Research Foundation, 25 Apr. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3129009/.

Diary Entry #1: Meeting Legionella

Posted on by Robyn McDaniel

Dear Diary,

When I arrived at the David J Sencer Centers for Disease Control & Prevention museum, the security guard attempted to scare me into thinking the museum was closed. I almost fell for it until someone came in after me and successfully entered. I chose the CDC museum because it’s a federal government facility and my mother works for the Food and Drug Administration. Visiting the FDA at a young age encouraged me to fall in love with science, particularly learning about bacteria. The FDA had a slogan “Fight BAC” to inspire the general public to practice food safety.

I attempted to schedule a tour at the museum online, however, it was required to have 10 or more participants, so I tagged along with a tour group shortly and attempted to blend in. I saw microbes of viruses and bacteria such as Sin Nombre Orthohantavirus (hantavirus), HIV, AIDS, Zika, Polio, and Malaria. I truly enjoyed the museum. I went with a group of women in my class and we enjoyed it so much decided to make a video to commemorate the experience.

I would’ve loved to choose the guinea worm, but unfortunately, it is not a microbe; I chose to study Legionnaire’s Disease instead. The Legionella Pneumophila a bacterium that causes pneumonia of the lungs and can lead to mild Pontiac fever. I have done previous research on Legionella Pneumophila for a project and it was so intriguing, I had to choose it again. The history behind Legionnaires’ Disease (in a post to come) is so intriguing it will have you glued to your seat.

I planned on writing more in this entry but I’m extremely tired and plan on researching my bacterium more for the next post. I’m about to turn in for the night.

Robyn

 

P.S.   I encountered a blood agar plate of the virus Influenza