Here are some fast facts from CDC about the disease:
- The bacterium was named after an outbreak in 1976, when many people who went to a Philadelphia convention of the American Legion suffered from this disease.
- Legionella bacteria are not transmitted from person to person.
- People get Legionnaires' disease or Pontiac fever when they breathe in a mist or vapor (small droplets of water in the air) that has been contaminated with Legionella bacteria.
- Keeping Legionella bacteria out of water is the key to preventing infection.
- Most people with Legionnaires' disease will have pneumonia (lung infection) since the Legionellabacteria grow and thrive in the lungs.