Epidemiology of Legionellosis and a Historical Perspective on Legionella pneumophila Strains for the Genomic Era
Natalia A. Kozak-Muiznieks, Jeffrey W. Mercante and Brian H. Raphael
from: Legionellosis Diagnosis and Control in the Genomic Era (Edited by: Jacob Moran-Gilad and Rachel E. Gibbs). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2020) Pages: 139-172.
Abstract
As a relatively newly discovered pathogen, Legionella, the cause of Legionnaires' disease and Pontiac fever, emerged at a time of rapidly evolving diagnostic techniques. The sequencing of the first L. pneumophila strain in 2004 brought extensive new findings on this unique pathogen regarding virulence, metabolism and diversity of this predominant species. This chapter describes the major L. pneumophila reference strains, OLDA, Pontiac-1, Philadelphia, Paris, Lens, Lorraine, Detroit-1 and the strains representing L. pneumophila subspecies pascillei in the historical contexts in which they were discovered. Each strain contributed significant findings to our current understanding of Legionella in the environment and pathologically. The distinct outbreaks leading to the discovery of each strain show the multifarious nature of this organism along with the major public health significance of Legionella research. Facing the era of genomics, much remains to be uncovered including pathogenicity profiles and resolution of the evident diversity within strains read more ...
