title: Prevalence and Molecular Characteristics of Waterborne Pathogen Legionella in Industrial Cooling Tower Environments.
abstract: Cooling towers are a source of Legionnaires' disease. It is important from a public health perspective to survey industrial cooling towers for the presence of Legionella. Prospective surveillance of the extent of Legionella pollution was conducted at factories in Shijiazhuang, China between March 2011 and September 2012. Overall, 35.7% of 255 industrial cooling tower water samples showed Legionella-positive, and their concentrations ranged from 100 Colony-Forming Units (CFU)/liter to 88,000 CFU/liter, with an average concentration of 9100 CFU/liter. A total of 121 isolates were obtained. All isolates were L. pneumophila, and the isolated serogroups included serogroups 1 (68 isolates, 56.2%), 6 (25, 20.7%), 5 (12, 9.9%), 8 (8, 6.6%), 3 (6, 5.0%) and 9 (2, 1.6%). All 121 isolates were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and 64 different patterns were obtained. All 121 isolates were analyzed sequence-based typing (SBT), a full 7-allele profile was obtained from 117 isolates. One hundred and seventeen isolates were divided into 49 sequence types. Two virulence genes, lvh and rtxA, are analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). 92.6% (112/121) and 98.3% (119/121) isolates carried lvh and rtxA respectively and 90.9% (110/121) of tested isolates carried both genes. Our results demonstrated high prevalence and genetic polymorphism of L. pneumophila in industrial cooling tower environments in Shijiazhang, China, and the SBT and virulence gene PCR results suggested that the isolates were pathogenic. Improved control and prevention strategies are urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: Shijiazhuang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No.3, Likang Street, Shijiazhuang 050011, China. eryanghualv@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Lijie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 155, Changbai Road, Changping, Beijing 102206, China. qintian@icdc.cn.|Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou 310003, China. qintian@icdc.cn.
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Hebei International Travel Health-Care Center, No.409-1, Hongqi Stree, Shijiazhuang 050000, China. liyun0302@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 155, Changbai Road, Changping, Beijing 102206, China. zhj_0901@163.com.|Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou 310003, China. zhj_0901@163.com.
authors.forename: Haijian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Shijiazhuang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No.3, Likang Street, Shijiazhuang 050011, China. songhm1225@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Hongmei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No. 155, Changbai Road, Changping, Beijing 102206, China. hongyu2690@sohu.com.|Collaborative Innovation Centre for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Hangzhou 310003, China. hongyu2690@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Hongyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Shijiazhuang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No.3, Likang Street, Shijiazhuang 050011, China. jinhuangse913@sohu.com.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shijiazhuang Jiyuan Environmental Protection Technology Co.Ltd, Shijiazhuang 050035, China. 13933191875@126.com.
authors.forename: Yongguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shijiazhuang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, No.3, Likang Street, Shijiazhuang 050011, China. aileenzdongdong@126.com.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000389:Air Conditioning; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C459580:Lvh protein, Legionella pneumophila
keywords: Legionella; Legionella monitoring; aquatic bacteria; cooling tower water; molecular characteristics; water pollution