Key points
- Health department personnel can request ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø assistance with investigating potential outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease.
- The public should direct inquiries about Legionnaires' disease in general to ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø-INFO.
- The public should direct questions about specific case or outbreak investigations to the relevant state, territorial, or local health department.
Contacts
Epidemiologic assistance
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø staff provide limited consultation on investigations to health department personnel via phone and email. This includes facilitating communication among state health departments with travel-associated cases or outbreaks. Field assistance is available via the Epi-Aid request process.
To request epidemiologic or environmental health assistance, email [email protected].
Laboratory assistance
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø's Legionella laboratory provides services, including culture of clinical specimens and isolate typing. Public health laboratories are encouraged to submit clinical isolates for confirmation. Contact the laboratory by emailing [email protected].
Requirements
The laboratory requires a consultation prior to submission of clinical specimens. When testing is requested as part of an outbreak investigation, epidemiologic consultation is also needed.
Testing environmental samples and isolates
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø laboratory testing of environmental samples and isolates is only done under special circumstances. Examples include an outbreak investigation involving ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø or with prior permission from ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø for submission of samples.