Presence of Legionellaceae in warm water supplies and typing of strains bypolymerase chain reaction

Outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease present a public hearth challenge especi ally because fatal outcomes still remain frequent. The aim of this study wa s to describe the abundance and epidemiology of Legionellaceae in the human -made environment. Water was sampled from hotwater taps in private and publ ic buildings across the area of Gottingen, Germany, including distant subur bs. Following isolation, we used polymerase chain reaction in order to gene rate strain specific banding profiles of legionella isolates. In total, 70 buildings were examined. Of these 18 (26 %) had the bacterium in at least o ne water sample. Legionella pneumophila serogroups 1, 4, 5 and 6 could be i dentified in the water samples. Most of the buildings were colonized solely by one distinct strain, as proven by PCR. In three cases equal patterns we re found in separate buildings. There were two buildings in this study wher e isolates with different serogroups were found at the same time.