Key points
- Health department personnel can request CDC assistance with investigating potential outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease.
- The public should direct inquiries about Legionnaires' disease in general to CDC-INFO.
- The public should direct questions about specific case or outbreak investigations to the relevant state, territorial, or local health department.
Contacts
Public assistance
Any member of the public can contact CDC-INFO at
1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)
TTY: (888) 232-6348
CDC staff provide limited consultation on investigations to health department personnel via phone and email. This includes facilitating communication among state health departments with travel-associated cases or outbreaks. Field assistance is available via the Epi-Aid request process.
To request epidemiologic or environmental health assistance, email travellegionella@cdc.gov.
CDC's Legionella laboratory provides services, including culture of clinical specimens and isolate typing. Public health laboratories are encouraged to submit clinical isolates for confirmation. Contact the laboratory by emailing legionellalab@cdc.gov.
Requirements
The laboratory requires a consultation prior to submission of clinical specimens. When testing is requested as part of an outbreak investigation, epidemiologic consultation is also needed.
Testing environmental samples and isolates
CDC laboratory testing of environmental samples and isolates is only done under special circumstances. Examples include an outbreak investigation involving CDC or with prior permission from CDC for submission of samples.
Resources
Listings of health department directories