This year marks the 30 th anniversary of the 1976 American
Legion convention of military veterans held in Philadelphia. A
mysterious disease outbreak occurred that killed 34 people and
debilitated nearly another 200. The media named it Legionnaires’
Disease. In early 1977, the cause of the outbreak had been
proven to be a previously unknown waterborne pathogenic
bacterium subsequently named Legionella. The bacterium was
scientifi cally proven to have caused widespread endemic
pneumonia since 1943 and caused outbreaks as far back as the
1950s. Authors: By William F. McCoy, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE
Citation: ASHRAE Journal, Vol. 48, No. 1 Publish Date: January
2006 Free Download: Downloadable - 27214mccoy.pdf