After this congress, an unknown disease launched a national investigation

In July 1976, participants gathered in Philadelphia for a conference of the American Legion. After the gathering, several people develop fever and severe pneumonia. The origin of these diseases is not immediately identified, and the first information does not allow a simple answer.

The health authorities are conducting an investigation. They look for sick people, compare exposures and examine samples. The figures published at the beginning correspond to an ongoing investigation: they should not be presented as the final report of the episode.

In January 1977, an advertisement described the identification of a previously unknown bacterium. She will be given the name Legionella, linked to the group affected at the congress. The disease became known as Legionnaires’ disease: this name therefore retains the trace of a historical investigation.

Enigmatic pneumonia had led to the identification of an infectious agent. The investigation demonstrates this link, without allowing to invent specific equipment responsible for the episode.