According to a HealthDay News report citing a New England Journal of Medicine study, Legionnaires’ disease spread from a man to his elderly mother in the fall of 2014 in Portugal.
Both patients’ illnesses were caused by the same strain of bacteria, even though the mother had never been to the site where the son was believed to have contracted the infection.
This is believed to be the first reported person-to-person transmission of Legionnaires’ disease, but it isn’t cause for panic, according to experts. Instead, further studies of the risks of person-to-person Legionnaires’ disease transmission should be conducted, and cities and organizations should stay vigilant in cleaning and testing water towers that could become contaminated with the bacteria, according to HealthDay.
More articles on Legionnaires’ disease:
At least 87 Legionnaires’ cases, 10 deaths linked to Flint water crisis
How many more have to die before regulators take action on Legionnaires’ disease?
Death toll rises in Illinois Legionnaires’ disease outbreak
