Cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases caused by Legionella longbeachae serogroup 1, Scotland, August to September 2013

A Potts; M Donaghy; M Marley; R Othieno; J Stevenson; J Hyland; K G Pollock; D Lindsay; G Edwards; M F Hanson; K O Helgason

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.50.20656

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Cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases caused by Legionella longbeachae serogroup 1, Scotland, August to September 2013

A Potts¹, M Donaghy¹, M Marley¹, R Othieno², J Stevenson², J Hyland³, K G Pollock¹, D Lindsay⁴, G Edwards⁴, M F Hanson⁵, K O Helgason⁵
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Affiliations: ¹ Health Protection Scotland, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom ² Health Protection Team, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom ³ Health Protection Team, NHS Tayside, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom ⁴ Scottish Haemophilus Legionella Meningococcus Pneumococcus Reference Laboratory, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom ⁵ Microbiology Department, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Correspondence:
A Potts
alison.potts nhs.net
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Citation style for this article: Potts A, Donaghy M, Marley M, Othieno R, Stevenson J, Hyland J, Pollock K G, Lindsay D, Edwards G, Hanson M F, Helgason K O. Cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases caused by Legionella longbeachae serogroup 1, Scotland, August to September 2013 . Euro Surveill. 2013;18(50):pii=20656. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2013.18.50.20656 Received: 18 Nov 2013

Abstract

We report six confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease in Scotland caused by Legionella longbeachae serogroup 1, identified over a four-week period in August-September 2013. All cases required admission to hospital intensive care facilities. All cases were amateur gardeners with frequent exposure to horticultural growing media throughout their incubation period. L. longbeachae was identified in five samples of growing media linked to five cases. Product tracing did not identify a common product or manufacturer. .