Medical Encyclopedia

Medical Encyclopedia

Legionnaires' disease organism, legionella

Legionnaires' disease organism, legionella

Legionnaire's disease was first described in 1976 after an outbreak of fatal pneumonia at a Legionnaires convention. The newly described organism which caused the disease was named Legionella pneumophila, shown in this picture. (Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)

Update Date: 4/17/2008

Updated by: A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Greg Juhn, MTPW, David R. Eltz, Kelli A. Stacy, ELS. Previously reviewed by Monica Gandhi MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases,UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network (6/19/2007).

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