Rapid Detection of Viable Legionella in Environmental Samples

Legionella is the causative agent of human legionellosis, also known as Legionnaires’ disease. It is a severe form of infection, and the fatality rate can approach 50% in immunocompromised patients. Legionella is widespread in freshwater environments, man-made water systems, soil, sediment, and even in salt-water. The risk of human infection caused by Legionella contamination of water systems has resulted in significantly increased testing of environmental samples. The World Health Organization (WHO) published documents to recommend regular checking of the Legionella level to examine trends in Legionella concentration and to verify and validate water safety plans. Current testing methods, such as cultivation and PCR, are either time-consuming or lack the capability to detect viable Legionella. While the long assay time limits their applications in the field, the detection of both viable and non-viable Legionella overestimated the actual health risks. Zymeron develops a point-of-need (PON) water test to rapidly detect viable Legionella in environmental water samples in the field or in hospitals.