title: Soil as a source of Legionella pneumophila sequence type 47.
abstract: Legionella pneumophila sequence type (ST) 47 was isolated from soil in a garden. We speculate that this strain was transmitted from soil to the whirlpool in the garden where it caused an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and Pontiac fever. In the Netherlands, ST47 is frequently isolated from patients, but hardly ever from environmental sources. It is possible that human pathogenic Legionella strains, with ST47 as one of the predominant strains, are transmitted to humans from sources such as natural soil that are currently not targeted in outbreak investigations.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands. Electronic address: marjolijn.schalk@rivm.nl.
authors.forename: Johanna A C
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Schalk
authors.affiliation: Regional Public Health Laboratory Kennemerland, Haarlem, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sjoerd M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Euser
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Heijnsbergen
authors.affiliation: Regional Public Health Laboratory Kennemerland, Haarlem, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jacob P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Bruin
authors.affiliation: Regional Public Health Laboratory Kennemerland, Haarlem, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: den Boer
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands; Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: de Roda Husman
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D012988:Soil Microbiology
keywords: Legionella pneumophila; Natural soil; Outbreak; ST47; Source investigation; Whirlpool