Wisconsin health officials are keeping an eye on an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease, a fatal form of pneumonia, in southeastern Wisconsin.
Dr. William Agger, an infectious disease specialist, with Gunderson Health in Madison, said that Legionnaires’ disease is usually contracted by people “who have lung disease from prior smoking.”
This ailment can be particularly hard to treat, Agger said.
“It normally doesn’t respond to penicillin-like drugs,” he said.
Agger said that the pathology of Legionaires' disease is sneaky because “it literally hides from our antibiotics.” Further complicating treatment, he said that some patients might not recognize that they have it.
Legionnaires’ disease was first discovered in the mid-1970s with an outbreak at an American Legion convention. Researchers identified the respiratory ailment as a bacteria known as legionella, but where it originated was never found.
