Alliance to Prevent Legionnaires' Disease

The Alliance strives to reduce the occurrence of Legionnaires’ disease by promoting public research and education on the disease, and best practices and policy for its prevention. Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by aspirating or inhaling small droplets of water contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Symptoms include fever, headache, aching joints and muscles, diarrhea, fatigue, loss of appetite, cough, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, chills and chest pain. Consult your doctor with questions and at the first sign of symptoms. WE ADVOCATE FOR - Providing the public—with special regard for patients—the best available information on Legionnaires’ disease. - Requirement for prompt notification to communities of possible higher Legionella levels in the public water supply due to significant disruptions, including water main breaks, infrastructure changes and severe weather. - Increased government and private research on Legionella and disease prevention. - Improved water quality from source-to-tap with greater investments in infrastructure to ensure consistently safe water quality throughout the public water distribution system to residences and buildings. - Mandated use of CDC investigation protocols by public health officials to determine root causes of outbreaks and sporadic cases of Legionnaires’ disease. - Widespread voluntary adoption of the Legionnaires’ disease prevention best practices found in ASHRAE Standard 188 or the CDC Water Management Toolkit.