Legionella occurrence beyond cooling towers and premise plumbing

David Otto Schwake, Absar Alum, Morteza Abbaszadegan

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Legionella is an environmental pathogen that is responsible for respiratory disease and is a common causative agent of water-related outbreaks. Due to their ability to survive in a broad range of environments, transmission of legionellosis is possible from a variety of sources. Unfortunately, a disproportionate amount of research that is devoted to studying the occurrence of Legionella in environmental reservoirs is aimed toward cooling towers and premise plumbing. As confirmed transmission of Legionella has been linked to many other sources, an over-emphasis on the most common sources may be detrimental to increasing understanding of the spread of legionellosis. This review aims to address this issue by cataloguing studies which have examined the occurrence of Legionella in less commonly investigated environments. By summarizing and discussing reports of Legionella in fresh water, ground water, saltwater, and distribution system drinking water, future environmental and public health researchers will have a resource to aid in investigating these pathogens in relevant sources.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number2543
JournalMicroorganisms
Volume9
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • Detection methods
  • Drinking water
  • Freshwater
  • Groundwater
  • Legionel pneumophila
  • Saltwater

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Virology

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