Forensic Files - Season 1, Episode 7 - Legionnaires' Disease - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[MARCH PLAYING] Narrator: AS AMERICA CELEBRATED ITS 200th BIRTHDAY AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION, ITS BIRTHPLACE--
PHILADELPHIA--PLAYED HOST TO MILLIONS OF TOURISTS AND HUNDREDS OF BUSINESS GATHERINGS.
PHILADELPHIA MADE HISTORY THAT SUMMER, BUT NOT FOR THE BICENTENNIAL. IT WAS THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF 34 PEOPLE
THAT LEFT A TRAGIC LEGACY, AND LAUNCHED THE MOST EXTENSIVE MEDICAL INVESTIGATION IN HISTORY.
Narrator: THE SUMMER OF 1976 WAS A BUSY TIME FOR THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, FILLED WITH BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS,
TOURIST ACTIVITIES, AND BUSINESS CONVENTIONS. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A TIME OF CELEBRATION
FOR CITY OFFICIALS, AS WELL, BUT THEY FACED A NUMBER OF UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES.
SANITATION WORKERS STAGED A WORK SLOWDOWN OVER A WAGE DISPUTE, AND THE MOUNTAINS OF UNCOLLECTED GARBAGE
CREATED SERIOUS HEALTH CONCERNS. THEN THERE WAS A TERRORIST THREAT-- AN ANONYMOUS TIP WARNING OF POSSIBLE VIOLENCE
AT THE UPCOMING AMERICAN LEGIONNAIRES' CONVENTION IN PROTEST AGAINST RECENT U.S. FOREIGN POLICY DECISIONS.
THAT CONVENTION WAS TO BE HEADQUARTERED HERE AT THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL, ONE OF PHILADELPHIA'S FINEST,
AND IT WAS HAVING SOME OF ITS OWN PROBLEMS. HELLO. I RECEIVED A SERVICE CALL. I'M HERE TO CHECK THE AIR CONDITIONER.
SURE. COME ON IN. Narrator: THE HOTEL'S AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM WAS MALFUNCTIONING,
AND REPAIRMEN WERE DOING ALL THEY COULD TO GET IT UP AND RUNNING BEFORE THE CONVENTION.
HOTEL SECURITY WAS ALSO WORKING TO MAKE SURE THAT PROSTITUTES WERE KEPT AWAY FROM THE HOTEL DURING THE BUSY SUMMER SEASON.
ON JULY 21, 4,500 LEGIONNAIRES FROM AROUND THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA ARRIVED IN PHILADELPHIA FOR THEIR ANNUAL GET-TOGETHER.
IT WAS A TIME FOR BUSINESS AND TO RENEW OLD FRIENDSHIPS. Man: EVERYBODY WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT--
A JOLLY, JOVIAL TIME WHERE WE NATURALLY HAD MEETINGS TO ATTEND, AND SO FORTH. BUT NORMALLY, THE BUSINESS WOULD BE OVER BY NOON,
AND WE COULD THEN... GO OUT AND VISIT THE CITY. Man: I HAD BEEN THROUGH 3 OR 4 CONVENTIONS, I THINK, IN PITTSBURGH--
ONE IN HARRISBURG-- AND I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT PHILLY. I KNEW IT'S A BIG CITY, AND...I WAS ANXIOUS, TOO.
[MARCH PLAYING] Narrator: AFTER 3 DAYS OF BUSINESS AND PLEASURE, THE 4,500 LEGIONNAIRES RETURNED HOME.
THE CONVENTION HAD ENDED, BUT A MYSTERY BEGAN TO UNFOLD. Man: LORD, WELCOME INTO YOUR PRESENCE...
Narrator: 8 DAYS LATER IN WILLIAMSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, LEGIONNAIRES JAMES DOLAN AND JOHN RALPH DIED SUDDENLY
UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. BOTH HAD ATTENDED THE CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA.
Man: I DON'T THINK WE'VE HAD TWO KOREAN VETERANS DIE IN THE SAME YEAR, LET ALONE TWO DAYS APART FROM EACH OTHER.
Narrator: THE OFFICIAL CAUSE OF DEATH--PNEUMONIA. THE CORONER DESCRIBED THEIR LUNGS AS RESEMBLING BRILLO PADS.
WITHIN DAYS, OTHER LEGIONNAIRES FELL ILL. I LAID AROUND THE HOUSE FOR ABOUT TWO DAYS AND, UH,
I JUST KEPT FEELING WORSE AND WORSE. MY OLDEST BOY IS THERE AND HE SAID, "DAD, I'M TAKING YOU TO THE DOCTOR. THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU."
Narrator: THE MYSTERIOUS ILLNESS STRUCK SWIFTLY. FIRST, HEADACHE, THEN MUSCLE AND CHEST PAIN,
AND A FEVER WHICH COULD GET AS HIGH AS 107 DEGREES. WITHIN 3 WEEKS, 11 MORE LEGIONNAIRES DIED.
Davis: THEN I THOUGHT, "BOY, HERE I AM. IF I'M GOING TO DIE..." I MEAN, I HAD 5 KIDS.
THAT MAKES YOU THINK A LOT. AND I THOUGHT, "OH, BOY. I HOPE THAT'S NOT ME." Narrator: AUTHORITIES IN THE STATE CAPITAL OF HARRISBURG FEARED AN EPIDEMIC,
AND QUICKLY CALLED IN THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL TO INVESTIGATE. DR. DAVID FRASER LED THE INVESTIGATION.
WE HAD A SITUATION WHICH-- WHEN WE FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE PROBLEM, THERE HAD BEEN 4 DEATHS.
QUICKLY THEREAFTER, WE HEARD OF 11 DEATHS, AND IT INCREASED FROM THAT POINT. SO THIS WAS OCCURRING FROM UNKNOWN CAUSE
IN A MAJOR CITY IN THE UNITED STATES, AND HAD TO HAVE EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION. Narrator: FRASER'S FIRST TASK--
TO FIND OUT WHY SOME LEGIONNAIRES WERE GETTING SICK, AND OTHERS WEREN'T. Fraser: WHICH, AT ITS MOST BASIC,
INVOLVES...COMPARING WHAT PEOPLE DID WHO BECAME SICK WITH WHAT PEOPLE DID WHO STAYED WELL.
Narrator: THE INVESTIGATION WOULD BE COMPLICATED. THE LEGIONNAIRES WERE SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE STATE,
AND GATHERING INFORMATION WOULD BE DIFFICULT. DR. FRASER HAD SOME THEORIES, BUT LITTLE ELSE.
THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEATH OF THE AMERICAN LEGIONNAIRES WOULD BECOME THE LARGEST AND MOST COMPLICATED
MEDICAL INVESTIGATION IN HISTORY. Narrator: BY THE TIME DR. DAVID FRASER AND HIS TEAM ARRIVED IN PHILADELPHIA,
THE DEATH RATE AMONG THE INFECTED LEGIONNAIRES WAS 20% AND RISING. 11 LEGIONNAIRES WERE DEAD,
AND 39 MORE WERE SERIOUSLY ILL. ALL OF THE LEGIONNAIRES WHO DIED HAD A FORM OF PNEUMONIA,
BUT INVESTIGATORS HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS CAUSING IT. THERE ARE MORE DEATHS IN PENNSYLVANIA
FROM A DISEASE STILL NOT IDENTIFIED. Narrator: THE OUTBREAK WAS WORLDWIDE NEWS, AND THE PRESS HAD GIVEN IT A NAME.
...EVER SINCE THE LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE BECAME A MAJOR NATIONAL STORY. Narrator: THE DAILY PRESS REPORTS FUELED THE FEAR MANY CITIZENS FELT,
AND NOWHERE WAS THAT FEAR MORE EVIDENT THAN IN THE TOWN OF MONESSEN, PENNSYLVANIA.
[CHURCH BELL TOLLING] ANDREW HORNACK WAS A BUS DRIVER WHO HAD DRIVEN A DRUM AND BUGLE CORP
TO THE LEGIONNAIRES' CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA. AFTER HE ARRIVED HOME, HE FELL ILL AND DIED FROM LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE.
ALTHOUGH HE WAS EXTREMELY POPULAR, FEW OF HIS FRIENDS WENT TO PAY THEIR LAST RESPECTS.
WELL, WE'VE HAD A VERY SPARSE VISITATION AT THE FUNERAL HOME BECAUSE...PEOPLE SEEM TO FEEL
THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOME DANGER INVOLVED TO THEIR OWN LIFE. Narrator: DR. LEWIS POLK WAS PHILADELPHIA'S HEALTH COMMISSIONER,
AND UNDERSTOOD PEOPLE'S FEARS. Polk: IF YOU DEAL WITH A CATASTROPHE OF A KNOWN CAUSE--
WHETHER IT'S A FLOOD OR FIRE, AN EARTHQUAKE, WHATEVER-- EVEN THOUGH IT MAY CAUSE A LOT OF DAMAGE AND EVEN KILL A LOT OF PEOPLE,
SOMEHOW, AS HUMAN BEINGS, ALL OF US CAN DEAL WITH A KNOWN-CAUSE CATASTROPHE BETTER THAN AN UNKNOWN CAUSE, A TRUE MYSTERY.
Narrator: DR. FRASER AND THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL NEEDED TO GATHER INFORMATION.
INVESTIGATORS CRISSCROSSED THE STATE TO INTERVIEW SICK LEGIONNAIRES. AT THE GO-GETTERS' BREAKFAST ON FRIDAY, DID YOU HAVE THE COFFEE?
YEAH, JUST THE COFFEE. NO ROLLS. Narrator: THEY SENT DETAILED QUESTIONNAIRES TO EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED THE CONVENTION.
"ON FRIDAY THE 23rd, HOW OFTEN DID YOU RIDE THE MAIN ELEVATORS?" MAN, I DON'T KNOW.
Narrator: THEY COLLECTED HUNDREDS OF DUST, AIR, WATER, AND ICE SAMPLES, AS WELL AS RAT AND PIGEON DROPPINGS
FROM EVERY HOTEL USED BY THE LEGIONNAIRES. ANYTHING WHICH MIGHT BE OF INTEREST TO THE BIOLOGISTS AND TOXICOLOGISTS OF THE C.D.C.
WAS SENT TO ATLANTA FOR ANALYSIS, AND TISSUE SAMPLES FROM THE AUTOPSIES WERE ALSO COLLECTED AND ANALYZED.
C.D.C. INVESTIGATORS HAD PLENTY OF COMPETING THEORIES. SWINE FLU WAS AT THE TOP OF THEIR LIST,
SINCE THE SYMPTOMS WERE SIMILAR. PARROT FEVER WAS ALSO A POSSIBILITY-- A DISEASE SPREAD BY SICK PIGEONS...
PERHAPS A MASSIVE CASE OF FOOD POISONING, CAUSED BY A PROBLEM AT ONE OF THE CONVENTION'S HALF-DOZEN HOTELS.
Polk: THERE WERE SOME THOUGHTS EARLY ON THAT PEOPLE IN TOWN FOR A CONVENTION POSSIBLY MIGHT HAVE OVERINDULGED IN ONE OF SEVERAL WAYS,
WHETHER IT'S...DRINKING OR SEX OR SOMETHING. Narrator: WAS IT A NEW STRAIN OF VENEREAL DISEASE
CALLED SUPER GONORRHEA? THE SYMPTOMS WERE SIMILAR TO SUPER GONORRHEA, AND THERE HAD BEEN TWO OUTBREAKS IN OTHER CITIES EARLIER THAT YEAR.
OR DID THE OUTBREAK STEM FROM THE RATS AND THE RECENT SANITATION STRIKE, WHICH LEFT MOUNTAINS OF UNCOLLECTED GARBAGE
IN THE VERY STREETS THE LEGIONNAIRES WALKED THROUGH? AND WHAT ABOUT THE ANONYMOUS TIP
ABOUT A POSSIBLE TERRORIST ATTACK? WAS IT POSSIBLE THE LEGIONNAIRES HAD BEEN POISONED?
BUT ONE OF THE MOST PUZZLING QUESTIONS WAS WHY SOME LEGIONNAIRES DEVELOPED THE DISEASE,
WHILE OTHERS DID NOT. AFTER LEGIONNAIRE BOB McGARRY'S ROOMMATE DEVELOPED PNEUMONIA,
THE C.D.C. WANTED HIM TO GET TO A HOSPITAL RIGHT AWAY. AND WHEN I TOLD THEM WHAT I WAS THERE FOR,
THEY ROLLED OUT THE RED CARPET, AND, UH, THEY GAVE ME A PHYSICAL LIKE I NEVER HAD BEFORE IN MY LIFE.
THEY WANTED EVERY TYPE OF... SALIVA... URINE... AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT I COULD GIVE THEM, TO BE SENT
TO THE DISEASE CONTROL CENTER IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA. WHAT WE FOUND, THOUGH, IN OUR SURVEY OF ROOMMATES,
WAS THAT BEING A ROOMMATE OF SOMEBODY WITH LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE DIDN'T INCREASE YOUR CHANCE
OF GETTING LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE. AND THAT WAS A VERY IMPORTANT FINDING, BECAUSE IT SUGGESTED THAT, FIRST OF ALL,
EXPOSURE WASN'T OCCURRING IN THE BEDROOMS THERE, AND IT ALSO SUGGESTED IT WASN'T SPREAD PERSON-TO-PERSON.
Narrator: WITHIN 48 HOURS, THE FIRST TISSUE SPECIMENS ANALYZED BY THE C.D.C. ELIMINATED TYPHOID,
THE LASSA AND MARBURG VIRUSES, PERTUSSIS, AND THE PLAGUE. AND AFTER 5 DAYS, THEY ELIMINATED MANY MORE, INCLUDING HERPES,
MUMPS AND MEASLES VIRUSES, AS WELL AS SOME OF THEIR TOP SUSPECTS. BLOOD TESTS ALSO ELIMINATED THE POSSIBILITY
THAT IT WAS SUPER GONORRHEA. THE C.D.C. HAD ELIMINATED A NUMBER OF POSSIBILITIES,
BUT THEY STILL COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE KILLER. THE QUESTIONNAIRES YIELDED SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Fraser: AMONG THE VARIOUS HOTELS WE SURVEYED, THE HIGHEST RATE OF ILLNESS THAT LOOKED LIKE LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE
WAS AMONG PEOPLE WHO WERE REGISTERED AT THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL, AND SPECIFICALLY IN THE WEEK OF THE AMERICAN LEGION CONVENTION.
Narrator: HOWEVER, THERE WERE SOME VICTIMS OF LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE WHO WEREN'T LEGIONNAIRES AT ALL,
HADN'T ATTENDED THEIR CONVENTION, AND NEVER SET FOOT INSIDE THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL.
Fraser: THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO WALKED ALONG THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD WHO GOT SICK, WHO NEVER WENT INSIDE
OR ON THE STREET ACROSS THE WAY. INDEED, WE FOUND THAT PEOPLE-- THE MORE TIME PEOPLE SPENT ON THE SIDEWALK
IN FRONT OF THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD, THE MORE LIKELY THEY WERE TO GET SICK. Narrator: BUT FOR SOME UNKNOWN REASON,
NONE OF THE EMPLOYEES OF THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL CONTRACTED THE DISEASE. WHAT WERE THE COMMON FACTORS AMONG THOSE WHO DID?
MOST WERE OVER THE AGE OF 50. 17 OF THE FIRST 21 FATALITIES WERE SMOKERS, AND SOME HAD OTHER UNDERLYING ILLNESSES.
WHEN FRASER REVIEWED THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD'S EMPLOYEES, HE DISCOVERED THAT, ON AVERAGE,
THEY WERE 10 YEARS YOUNGER AND HEALTHIER THAN THOSE WHO GOT SICK. BY NOW, 27 WERE DEAD.
THE DEATH TOLL WAS MOUNTING, AND FRASER STILL HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS KILLING THESE PEOPLE
OR HOW IT WAS BEING SPREAD. Narrator: DR. FRASER AND HIS TEAM WERE CONVINCED THE OUTBREAK OF LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE HAD SOMETHING TO DO
WITH THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL, BUT THEY HADN'T FOUND THE CONNECTION. IT'S JUST AMAZING.
THEY JUST CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT. WHY SOME WOULD GET SICK AND OTHERS DID NOT? RIGHT, RIGHT, BECAUSE, AS I SAID,
I SLEPT IN THE SAME ROOM WITH TWO FELLAS THAT ARE DEAD. Narrator: FRASER BELIEVED THAT THE AGENT, OR CAUSE OF THE DISEASE,
CAME FROM SOMEWHERE NEAR THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL. AND SINCE INDIVIDUALS ON THE STREET
HAD ALSO DEVELOPED THE DISEASE, THAT TOLD HIM SOMETHING ELSE. WE HAD SOME EVIDENCE
THAT IT WAS NOT WATERBORNE OR FOODBORNE. AND SO WE WERE DEVELOPING THE IDEA THAT THIS MIGHT BE AN AIRBORNE INFECTION,
BUT WE HAD SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS TO ANSWER ABOUT THAT. Narrator: BUT IF THE AGENT WAS INSIDE THE HOTEL,
FRASER'S MEDICAL DETECTIVES COULDN'T FIND IT. AND SINCE THE OUTBREAK WAS SLOWING DOWN,
HE BELIEVED THE CAUSE MIGHT NOW BE GONE. HIS ONLY HOPE WAS THAT THE SCIENTISTS IN THE LAB COULD FIND IT.
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT, DR. WILLIAM SUNDERMAN RECEIVED AN ANONYMOUS LETTER SAYING
THAT THE LEGIONNAIRES WERE INTENTIONALLY POISONED WHILE IN PHILADELPHIA. SUNDERMAN TURNED THE LETTER OVER TO THE F.B.I.,
BUT SUNDERMAN WAS AN EXPERT ON NICKEL CARBONYL-- A CLEAR, ODORLESS LIQUID EASILY TRANSFORMED INTO A LETHAL GAS.
HE DID A LITTLE OF HIS OWN RESEARCH. ...NICKEL COULD SPREAD THROUGH THE AIR, THAT IT CERTAINLY COULD CAUSE PNEUMONIA,
THAT IT CAUSED A PARTICULAR PATTERN OF PNEUMONIA THAT WAS NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE WERE SEEING IN THE LEGIONNAIRES' CASES
AS TO BE OBVIOUSLY... EXCLUDABLE. Narrator: TESTS ON LIVER SAMPLES REVEALED THAT NICKEL WAS PRESENT IN THOSE WHO DIED.
DR. WILLIAM SUNDERMAN, THE CHIEF TOXICOLOGIST DOING THE RESEARCH WORK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT,
HAS PRETTY WELL ESTABLISHED THAT IT WAS NICKEL CARBONYL. Narrator: BUT DR. SUNDERMAN'S DISCOVERY WAS NOT THE BREAKTHROUGH.
AFTER DAYS OF TESTING, RESEARCHERS SUSPECTED THAT NICKEL WAS PEELING OFF OF THE SCALPELS USED DURING THE AUTOPSIES.
WHEN PLASTIC SCALPELS WERE USED, THE NICKEL WAS NO LONGER PRESENT. INVESTIGATORS WERE NO CLOSER
TO FINDING THE CAUSE OF LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT WE MAY NEVER FIND THE ANSWER.
HOWEVER, I WILL PLEDGE THAT THIS EFFORT AND INVESTIGATION WILL CONTINUE, IF IT TAKES A YEAR OR TWO YEARS,
TO CONTINUE THE INVESTIGATION TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT. Narrator: OVER THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS, SOME OF THE C.D.C. STAFF
DECIDED TO TAKE SOME MUCH-NEEDED TIME OFF. THEY HAD BEEN WORKING AROUND-THE-CLOCK TO FIND THE CAUSE
OF THE LEGIONNAIRES' OUTBREAK, WITHOUT SUCCESS. THERE WERE NO NEW CASES OF LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE,
BUT STILL NO ANSWERS. DR. JOSEPH McDADE, A C.D.C. MICROBIOLOGIST, AND HIS WIFE WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS.
JOE, IT'S BEEN 6 MONTHS SINCE THIS FIRST BROKE OUT. Narrator: BUT WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DIVERSION
TURNED TO FRUSTRATION AS FRIENDS ASKED WHY HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES WERE UNABLE TO FIND THE CAUSE OF THE OUTBREAK.
FRUSTRATED, ANGRY, AND EMBARRASSED, McDADE CANCELED HIS CHRISTMAS VACATION AND RETURNED TO HIS LAB.
HE PULLED THE SLIDE OF A GUINEA PIG WHICH HAD BEEN INJECTED WITH LIVER TISSUE FROM A LEGIONNAIRES' VICTIM.
IT WAS A SLIDE HE HAD SEEN HUNDREDS OF TIMES BEFORE. BUT THIS TIME, IN HIS DESERTED LAB,
HE NOTICED SOMETHING HE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE-- A NEW BACTERIUM, ONE DR. McDADE HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
Narrator: DR. JOSEPH McDADE, A C.D.C. MICROBIOLOGIST, SAW SOMETHING HE NEVER NOTICED BEFORE
AS HE EXAMINED TISSUES OF GUINEA PIGS EXPOSED TO THE MYSTERIOUS DISEASE. BUT AT FIRST, HE THOUGHT HE WAS LOOKING AT A CONTAMINATED SPECIMEN.
SO THEY WERE PROBABLY SOME OTHER KIND OF BACTERIA. AND HE, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, DECIDED TO RETEST THOSE SPECIMENS--
NO LONGER ASSUMING THAT THESE WERE CONTAMINANTS, BUT ON THE OFF CHANCE THAT THIS WAS THE AGENT.
Narrator: HE TESTED HIS NEWFOUND ORGANISM WITH A BLOOD SAMPLE FROM A LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE SURVIVOR.
THAT BLOOD SAMPLE WOULD CONTAIN ANTIBODIES WHICH SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT THE DISEASE.
IF THE ANTIBODIES WERE PRESENT, THE SAMPLE WOULD TURN GREEN. McDADE LOOKED THROUGH THE MICROSCOPE
AND SAW A BRIGHT GREEN GLOW. SO HE DEMONSTRATED THAT THE BUG WAS PRESENT IN THE LIVER OF THE GUINEA PIG,
AND HE DEMONSTRATED THAT LEGIONNAIRES DEVELOPED ANTIBODIES SPECIFIC TO THAT AGENT.
WELL, THAT WAS THE BREAKTHROUGH. Narrator: 147 DAYS AFTER THE OUTBREAK, THE BACTERIUM WHICH KILLED 34
AND HOSPITALIZED 221 OTHERS WAS OFFICIALLY GIVEN ITS NAME-- LEGIONELLA PNEUMOPHILA,
IN HONOR OF THE LEGIONNAIRES IN PHILADELPHIA. AND RESEARCHERS IDENTIFIED AN ANTIBIOTIC
WHICH WOULD KILL IT-- ERYTHROMYCIN. BUT THE QUESTION REMAINED: WHERE DID THE BACTERIA COME FROM,
AND HOW WAS IT SPREAD? BY THE TIME RESEARCHERS KNEW WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR, THEY COULDN'T FIND IT IN ANY OF THE SAMPLES FROM THE HOTEL.
THE BACTERIA HAD LONG SINCE DIED. BUT RESEARCHERS QUICKLY DISCOVERED ITS PROPERTIES.
IT MULTIPLIED IN WARM, WATERY CONDITIONS, AND COULD TRAVEL THROUGH THE AIR IN CONTAMINATED WATER DROPLETS OR MIST.
SINCE SOME OF THE VICTIMS NEVER SET FOOT INSIDE THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL, BUT WERE ON THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL,
DR. FRASER BELIEVES THAT THE BACTERIA MOST LIKELY CAME FROM THE ROOF OF THE HOTEL--
FROM THE AIR CONDITIONING WATER-COOLING TOWERS. INSIDE THE COOLING TOWERS, WARM WATER IS COOLED
AS IT CASCADES OVER WOODEN LOUVERS. THE EXCESS WATER FALLS INTO A COLLECTION PAN AT THE BOTTOM,
WHERE IT STAGNATES IF IT FAILS TO DRAIN PROPERLY. INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE IT WAS HERE,
INSIDE THESE WATER-COOLING UNITS, WHERE THE DEADLY LEGIONELLA BACTERIA GREW AND MULTIPLIED.
IT WAS DRAWN UP INTO THE AIR BY THE UNIT'S POWERFUL FANS. NOW AIRBORNE, THE DEADLY MIST OF BACTERIA AND WARM WATER
FLEW UP INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND FLOATED DOWN THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING, MAKING ITS WAY TO THE STREET BELOW.
IT LANDED ON PEDESTRIANS WALKING BY THE HOTEL, AND WAS ALSO DRAWN INTO THE HOTEL LOBBY
BY INTAKE FANS ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BUILDING. HOTEL EMPLOYEES PROBABLY DEVELOPED AN IMMUNITY TO THE BACTERIA,
OR WEREN'T SUSCEPTIBLE BECAUSE THEY WERE YOUNGER AND HEALTHIER THAN THOSE WHO CONTRACTED THE DISEASE.
THE COOLING-TOWER THEORY WAS NEVER PROVEN, PROBABLY BECAUSE THE BACTERIA IN THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD'S COOLING TOWERS HAD ALREADY DIED.
BUT INVESTIGATORS DISCOVERED THE SAME BACTERIA IN SIMILAR COOLING TOWERS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE LEGIONELLA HAS BEEN KILLING FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. AND WHEN BLOOD SAMPLES FROM EARLIER
UNEXPLAINED OUTBREAKS WERE EXAMINED, THEY DISCOVERED THE LEGIONELLA BACTERIA. AUSTIN, MINNESOTA, 1957--
THE EARLIEST DOCUMENTED OUTBREAK; WASHINGTON, D.C., 1965, WHERE LEGIONELLA KILLED 16 PEOPLE.
BOB McGARRY AND CHARLIE DAVIS WERE TWO OF THE MORE FORTUNATE LEGIONNAIRES FROM THE 1976 CONVENTION.
CHARLIE DAVIS DEVELOPED LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE, SPENT 3 WEEKS IN THE HOSPITAL, BUT RECOVERED.
BOB McGARRY ESCAPED THE DISEASE ALTOGETHER, EVEN THOUGH HE AND CHARLIE ROOMED TOGETHER.
BOB WAS YOUNGER, DIDN'T SMOKE, OR HAVE ANY PREVIOUS RESPIRATORY AILMENTS. BUT THE OUTBREAK HAD A LASTING EFFECT
ON THESE TWO LIFELONG FRIENDS. THEY LOST MANY OF THEIR BROTHERS THAT SUMMER, AND NEITHER ONE EVER ATTENDED
ANOTHER LEGIONNAIRES' CONVENTION. I WAS AT THE WRONG PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME, AS FAR AS THAT WAS CONCERNED.
HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED WITH THE REST OF THE DELEGATES AND BROTHERS,
I COULD SAY TODAY IT WAS A GREAT TIME. BUT I WAS NOT GOING TO PRESS MY LUCK. I SEEN IT ONCE. I DON'T WANT TO DO IT AGAIN.
I SEEN IT ONCE. I DON'T WANT TO DO IT AGAIN.

After a Philadelphia Convention, 180 Legionnaires contract pneumonia-like symptoms and 29 of them die. The determination of one scientist helps to determine the cause of this deadly disease.

Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

Brief Summary

The 1976 Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Philadelphia led to 34 deaths and a major CDC investigation revealing Legionella bacteria as the cause.

Key points

The Mysterious Deaths. In the summer of 1976, Philadelphia faced a tragic legacy with the sudden deaths of 34 Legionnaires.
Legionnaires' Disease Identified. After extensive investigation, the bacterium responsible for the outbreak was identified as Legionella pneumophila.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I HOPE THAT'S NOT ME.

A Legionnaire reflecting on his health amid the outbreak.

4:12WatchMay 20, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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