Legionnaires’ disease is caused by Legionella, a bacterium that grows best in building water systems that aren’t well-kept. People get the pneumonia-like illness by breathing in aerosolized water droplets that contain the bacteria. Most people will recover fully from Legionnaires’ disease, but roughly 1 in 10 will die.
The CDC investigated 27 building-associated Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks, and found the most common sources of building-associated Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks were:
- Drinkable water, or water used for showering (56 percent)
- Cooling towers (22 percent)
- Hot tubs (7 percent)
- Industrial equipment (4 percent)
- Decorative fountain/water feature (4 percent)
To help curb these potentially deadly outbreaks, the CDC is now offering a new toolkit, titled “Developing a Water Management Program to Reduce Legionella Growth and Spread in Buildings: A Practical Guide to Implementing Industry Standards.”
Access the toolkit for free here.
More articles on Legionnaires’ disease:
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How many more have to die before regulators take action on Legionnaires’ disease?
NYC Legionnaires’ disease outbreak ends after sickening hundreds
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