This chapter explores the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease linked to the 1976 American Legion Convention in Philadelphia, detailing the challenges faced by health officials in tracing its source. It highlights the differences between Legionnaires' disease and Pontiac fever, while recounting the emotional impact of the outbreak on the community and its connection to veterans. The chapter culminates in the CDC's efforts to identify the Legionella pneumophila bacteria responsible for the outbreak, revealing the extensive investigation that ensued.
Two of the eponymous diseases in this episode are transmitted through incredibly casual exposure. The third requires more prolonged, direct contact with someone who is acutely ill, but can still spread really rapidly in certain conditions.
Research:
- Breman, Joel G et al. “Discovery and Description of Ebola Zaire Virus in 1976 and Relevance to the West African Epidemic During 2013-2016.” The Journal of infectious diseases vol. 214,suppl 3 (2016): S93-S101. doi:10.1093/infdis/jiw207
- Center for Disease Control "Morbidity and mortality weekly report, Vol. 25, no. 32, August 20, 1976" vol. 25, no. 32, 1976
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 25, no. 30, August 6, 1976" vol. 25, no. 30, 1976
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 25, no. 31, August 13, 1976" vol. 25, no. 31, 1976
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 25, no. 34, September 3, 1976" vol. 25, no. 34, 1976
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 26, no. 2, January 18, 1977; special issue : Follow-up on respiratory illness - Philidelphia" vol. 26, no. 2, 1977
- Communicable Disease Center (U.S.) "MMWR Weekly Report, Vol. 17, no. 47, Week ending November 23, 1968" vol. 17, no. 47, 1968
- Dance, Amber. “Norovirus: The perfect pathogen.” Knowable. 9/11/2017. https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2017/norovirus-perfect-pathogen
- Dolin, Raphael et al. “Transmission of Acute Infectious Nonbacterial Gastroenteritis to Volunteers by Oral Administration of Stool Filtrates.” Journal of Infectious Diseases. Vol. 123, No. 3. March 1971.
- Feldmann, H., Jones, S., Klenk, HD. et al. Ebola virus: from discovery to vaccine. Nat Rev Immunol 3, 677–685 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri1154
- Lucero Y, Matson DO, Ashkenazi S, George S, O'Ryan M. Norovirus: Facts and Reflections from Past, Present, and Future. Viruses. 2021 Nov 30;13(12):2399. doi: 10.3390/v13122399. PMID: 34960668; PMCID: PMC8707792.
- Markel, Howard. “How a hotel convention became ground zero for this deadly bacteria.” PBS. 7/23/2018. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-a-hotel-convention-became-ground-zero-for-this-deadly-bacteria
- McDevitt, Dawn. “Case Investigations: Lessons Learned from the 1976 Philadelphia Legionellosis Outbreak.” Indiana Epidemiology Newsletter. Third quarter 2015. https://www.in.gov/health/files/2015_EpiNews_3Q.pdf
- Robilotti E, Deresinski S, Pinsky BA. Norovirus. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2015 Jan;28(1):134-64. doi: 10.1128/CMR.00075-14. PMID: 25567225; PMCID: PMC4284304.
- WHO/International Study Team. “Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Sudan, 1976.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization ,56 (2): 247-270 (1978). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2395561/pdf/bullwho00439-0090.pdf
- Winn, Washington C. “Legionnaires Disease: Historical Perspective.” Clinical Microbiology Reviews. January 1988. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC358030/pdf/cmr00055-0072.pdf
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