legionnaires' disease

Le·gion·naires' disease   (lē'jə-nârz') n.  An acute, sometimes fatal respiratory disease caused by a bacterium of the genus Legionella, especially L. pneumophila, and characterized by severe pneumonia, headache, and a dry cough. [So called because it was first recognized when an outbreak occurred during an American Legion Convention in Philadelphia in 1976.]

Main Entry: Legionnaires' disease
Variant: also Legionnaire's disease
Function: noun
: pneumonia that is caused by a bacterium of the genusLegionella (L. pneumophila), that is characterized initially by symptoms resembling influenza (as malaise, headache, and muscular aches) followed by high fever, cough, diarrhea, lobarpneumonia, and mental confusion, and that may be fatal especially in elderly and immunocompromised individuals —see PONTIACFEVER

Legionnaires' disease Le·gion·naires' disease (lē'jə-nârz')
n.
An acute, sometimes fatal respiratory disease caused by Legionella pneumophila and characterized by severe pneumonia, headache, and a dry cough. Also called legionellosis.