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University of Nebraska Medical Center

What is Legionnaires’ disease, and how does it spread?

Washington Post Five cases of Legionnaires’ disease in New Hampshire this summer have raised questions about how the infection spreads.

Legionnaires’ is a serious form of pneumonia caused by the bacteria Legionella.

“The Legionella bacteria likes water. It is spread from contaminated air conditioning cooling towers, hot tubs, decorative fountains, misting machines and the like,” said William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University. “Some cases are acquired during international travel by exposure to contaminated air conditioning in hotels abroad.”

We asked health-care experts some commonly asked questions. What do we know about the Legionnaires’ cases?

New Hampshire health officials said in a statement Monday that five people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. They may have been exposed to water droplets contaminated with Legionella — the bacteria that causes the disease — from a cooling tower behind a resort in Lincoln, N.H.

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