First study in Qatar to reveal high Legionella counts in cooling towers.

First study in Qatar to reveal high Legionella counts in cooling towers. East Mediterr Health J. 2017 Dec 14;23(10):703-707 Authors: AbuOdeh RO, Aziz HA, Moussa H, Hussien S, Hadwan T, Nasrallah GK Abstract Legionella spp. is transmitted from water to humans by aerosol-generating devices, including cooling towers (CTs). There have not been published reports about Legionella in these systems in Qatar. Ten CTs in Qatar University were sampled on a monthly basis. Bacteria were recovered from 90 water samples by filtration and concentration. Legionella DNA copy number (CN) was assessed by quantitative RT-PCR. Legionella DNA was detected in 100% of the samples. The bacterial counts ranged from 0.006 to 199.56 CFU/mL, and critical counts were found in 51 (56.7 %) samples. Moreover, 7 (7.8%) samples showed a count of more than 100 CFU/mL. The highest counts were found in the months of May and June. These results suggest that this organism is found in high number in tested CTs, presenting a potential health risk to the local population. PMID: 29270971 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal - Category: Middle East Health Tags: East Mediterr Health J Source Type: research