Abstract
Members of the Gram-negative genus Legionella are typically found in freshwater environments, with the exception of L. longbeachae, which is present in composts and potting mixes. When contaminated aerosols are inhaled, legionellosis may result, typically as either the more serious pneumonia Legionnaires' disease or the less severe flu-like illness Pontiac fever. It is presumed that all species of the genus Legionella are capable of causing disease in humans. As a followup to a prior clinical study of legionellosis in rural Thailand, indigenous soil samples were collected proximal to cases' homes and workplaces and tested for the presence of legionellae by culture. We obtained 115 isolates from 22/39 soil samples and used sequence-based methods to identify 12 known species of Legionella represented by 87 isolates.
Highlights
Legionellosis is most often attributed to inhalation of contaminated aerosols from manmade water systems or, in the case of Legionella longbeachae, to inhalation of contaminated potting mixes or composts [1,2,3]
Immunologic testing performed on sera of suspect legionellosis cases found 20/397 (5%) adult cases exhibited a fourfold rise in titer to L. longbeachae by the indirect immunofluorescence assay
All L. pneumophila isolates were genotyped using the sequence-based typing (SBT) epidemiological typing scheme established by the European Working Group for Legionella Infections (EWGLI) as previously described [14, 15]. eBURST analysis was performed to observe the relatedness of the soil isolates to isolates from other countries previously submitted to the EWGLI SBT database
Summary
Legionellosis is most often attributed to inhalation of contaminated aerosols from manmade water systems or, in the case of Legionella longbeachae, to inhalation of contaminated potting mixes or composts [1,2,3]. In 2009, thirty-nine wet soil samples were collected from eight rural sites within Sa Kaeo province where prior laboratory-confirmed cases of legionellosis were identified and were shipped to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for culture [4]. Monoclonal antibody (MAb) testing was used to identify L. pneumophila serogroup 1 (Lp1) as previously described [7, 8].
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