00:00:05
[MARCH PLAYING]
00:00:07
Narrator: AS AMERICA
CELEBRATED ITS 200th BIRTHDAY
00:00:10
AS AN INDEPENDENT NATION,
ITS BIRTHPLACE--
00:00:13
PHILADELPHIA--PLAYED HOST
TO MILLIONS OF TOURISTS
00:00:16
AND HUNDREDS
OF BUSINESS GATHERINGS.
00:00:20
PHILADELPHIA MADE HISTORY
THAT SUMMER,
00:00:22
BUT NOT FOR THE BICENTENNIAL.
00:00:24
IT WAS THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH
OF 34 PEOPLE
00:00:27
THAT LEFT A TRAGIC LEGACY,
AND LAUNCHED
00:00:30
THE MOST EXTENSIVE MEDICAL
INVESTIGATION IN HISTORY.
00:01:00
Narrator: THE SUMMER OF 1976
WAS A BUSY TIME FOR THE CITY
OF PHILADELPHIA,
00:01:05
FILLED WITH BICENTENNIAL
CELEBRATIONS,
00:01:08
TOURIST ACTIVITIES,
AND BUSINESS CONVENTIONS.
00:01:11
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN
A TIME OF CELEBRATION
00:01:13
FOR CITY OFFICIALS, AS WELL,
00:01:15
BUT THEY FACED A NUMBER
OF UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES.
00:01:18
SANITATION WORKERS STAGED
A WORK SLOWDOWN
00:01:21
OVER A WAGE DISPUTE,
00:01:23
AND THE MOUNTAINS
OF UNCOLLECTED GARBAGE
00:01:25
CREATED SERIOUS
HEALTH CONCERNS.
00:01:27
THEN THERE WAS
A TERRORIST THREAT--
00:01:29
AN ANONYMOUS TIP WARNING
OF POSSIBLE VIOLENCE
00:01:32
AT THE UPCOMING AMERICAN
LEGIONNAIRES' CONVENTION
00:01:34
IN PROTEST AGAINST RECENT
U.S. FOREIGN POLICY DECISIONS.
00:01:39
THAT CONVENTION WAS
TO BE HEADQUARTERED HERE
00:01:42
AT THE BELLEVUE
STRATFORD HOTEL,
00:01:44
ONE OF PHILADELPHIA'S FINEST,
00:01:46
AND IT WAS HAVING
SOME OF ITS OWN PROBLEMS.
00:01:51
HELLO. I RECEIVED
A SERVICE CALL.
00:01:53
I'M HERE TO CHECK
THE AIR CONDITIONER.
00:01:55
SURE. COME ON IN.
00:01:56
Narrator: THE HOTEL'S
AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM
00:01:58
WAS MALFUNCTIONING,
00:01:59
AND REPAIRMEN WERE DOING
ALL THEY COULD
00:02:01
TO GET IT UP AND RUNNING
BEFORE THE CONVENTION.
00:02:04
HOTEL SECURITY
WAS ALSO WORKING
00:02:07
TO MAKE SURE THAT PROSTITUTES
WERE KEPT AWAY
00:02:09
FROM THE HOTEL DURING
THE BUSY SUMMER SEASON.
00:02:13
ON JULY 21,
00:02:15
4,500 LEGIONNAIRES
00:02:16
FROM AROUND THE STATE
OF PENNSYLVANIA ARRIVED
00:02:18
IN PHILADELPHIA FOR
THEIR ANNUAL GET-TOGETHER.
00:02:22
IT WAS A TIME FOR BUSINESS
00:02:23
AND TO RENEW OLD FRIENDSHIPS.
00:02:25
Man: EVERYBODY WAS
LOOKING FORWARD TO IT--
00:02:28
A JOLLY, JOVIAL TIME
00:02:31
WHERE WE NATURALLY HAD MEETINGS
TO ATTEND, AND SO FORTH.
00:02:35
BUT NORMALLY, THE BUSINESS
WOULD BE OVER BY NOON,
00:02:39
AND WE COULD THEN...
00:02:41
GO OUT AND VISIT THE CITY.
00:02:44
Man: I HAD BEEN THROUGH
3 OR 4 CONVENTIONS,
I THINK, IN PITTSBURGH--
00:02:48
ONE IN HARRISBURG--
00:02:50
AND I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW
THAT MUCH ABOUT PHILLY.
00:02:54
I KNEW IT'S A BIG CITY,
AND...I WAS ANXIOUS, TOO.
00:02:58
[MARCH PLAYING]
00:03:01
Narrator: AFTER 3 DAYS
OF BUSINESS AND PLEASURE,
00:03:04
THE 4,500 LEGIONNAIRES
RETURNED HOME.
00:03:07
THE CONVENTION HAD ENDED,
00:03:09
BUT A MYSTERY BEGAN
TO UNFOLD.
00:03:11
Man: LORD, WELCOME
INTO YOUR PRESENCE...
00:03:13
Narrator: 8 DAYS LATER
IN WILLIAMSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA,
00:03:17
LEGIONNAIRES JAMES DOLAN
00:03:19
AND JOHN RALPH DIED SUDDENLY
00:03:21
UNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES.
00:03:23
BOTH HAD ATTENDED THE CONVENTION
IN PHILADELPHIA.
00:03:26
Man: I DON'T THINK WE'VE HAD
TWO KOREAN VETERANS DIE
IN THE SAME YEAR,
00:03:30
LET ALONE TWO DAYS APART
FROM EACH OTHER.
00:03:33
Narrator: THE OFFICIAL CAUSE
OF DEATH--PNEUMONIA.
00:03:35
THE CORONER DESCRIBED
THEIR LUNGS AS RESEMBLING
BRILLO PADS.
00:03:40
WITHIN DAYS,
00:03:42
OTHER LEGIONNAIRES FELL ILL.
00:03:43
I LAID AROUND THE HOUSE
FOR ABOUT TWO DAYS AND, UH,
00:03:47
I JUST KEPT FEELING
WORSE AND WORSE.
00:03:49
MY OLDEST BOY IS THERE
AND HE SAID, "DAD,
00:03:51
I'M TAKING YOU TO THE DOCTOR.
THERE MUST BE SOMETHING
WRONG WITH YOU."
00:03:54
Narrator: THE MYSTERIOUS
ILLNESS STRUCK SWIFTLY.
00:03:56
FIRST, HEADACHE,
THEN MUSCLE AND CHEST PAIN,
00:03:59
AND A FEVER WHICH COULD GET
AS HIGH AS 107 DEGREES.
00:04:04
WITHIN 3 WEEKS,
00:04:06
11 MORE LEGIONNAIRES DIED.
00:04:07
Davis: THEN I THOUGHT,
"BOY, HERE I AM.
IF I'M GOING TO DIE..."
00:04:12
I MEAN, I HAD 5 KIDS.
00:04:14
THAT MAKES YOU THINK A LOT.
00:04:17
AND I THOUGHT, "OH, BOY.
00:04:20
I HOPE THAT'S NOT ME."
00:04:21
Narrator: AUTHORITIES IN THE
STATE CAPITAL OF HARRISBURG
FEARED AN EPIDEMIC,
00:04:25
AND QUICKLY CALLED IN
THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE
CONTROL TO INVESTIGATE.
00:04:30
DR. DAVID FRASER LED
THE INVESTIGATION.
00:04:33
WE HAD A SITUATION WHICH--
WHEN WE FIRST HEARD
00:04:36
ABOUT THE PROBLEM,
THERE HAD BEEN 4 DEATHS.
00:04:39
QUICKLY THEREAFTER,
WE HEARD OF 11 DEATHS,
00:04:42
AND IT INCREASED
FROM THAT POINT.
00:04:45
SO THIS WAS OCCURRING
FROM UNKNOWN CAUSE
00:04:48
IN A MAJOR CITY
IN THE UNITED STATES,
00:04:51
AND HAD TO HAVE
EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION.
00:04:54
Narrator:
FRASER'S FIRST TASK--
00:04:56
TO FIND OUT
WHY SOME LEGIONNAIRES
WERE GETTING SICK,
00:04:59
AND OTHERS WEREN'T.
00:05:01
Fraser: WHICH,
AT ITS MOST BASIC,
00:05:04
INVOLVES...COMPARING
00:05:06
WHAT PEOPLE DID
WHO BECAME SICK
00:05:09
WITH WHAT PEOPLE DID
WHO STAYED WELL.
00:05:12
Narrator: THE INVESTIGATION
WOULD BE COMPLICATED.
00:05:14
THE LEGIONNAIRES WERE SPREAD
THROUGHOUT THE STATE,
00:05:17
AND GATHERING INFORMATION
WOULD BE DIFFICULT.
00:05:20
DR. FRASER HAD SOME THEORIES,
00:05:22
BUT LITTLE ELSE.
00:05:24
THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE DEATH
OF THE AMERICAN LEGIONNAIRES
00:05:27
WOULD BECOME THE LARGEST
AND MOST COMPLICATED
00:05:31
MEDICAL INVESTIGATION
IN HISTORY.
00:05:35
Narrator: BY THE TIME
DR. DAVID FRASER
00:05:37
AND HIS TEAM ARRIVED
IN PHILADELPHIA,
00:05:39
THE DEATH RATE AMONG
THE INFECTED LEGIONNAIRES
00:05:43
WAS 20% AND RISING.
00:05:45
11 LEGIONNAIRES WERE DEAD,
00:05:47
AND 39 MORE WERE SERIOUSLY ILL.
00:05:50
ALL OF THE LEGIONNAIRES WHO DIED
HAD A FORM OF PNEUMONIA,
00:05:54
BUT INVESTIGATORS HAD NO IDEA
WHAT WAS CAUSING IT.
00:05:58
THERE ARE MORE DEATHS
IN PENNSYLVANIA
00:06:01
FROM A DISEASE
STILL NOT IDENTIFIED.
00:06:03
Narrator: THE OUTBREAK
WAS WORLDWIDE NEWS,
00:06:07
AND THE PRESS
HAD GIVEN IT A NAME.
00:06:08
...EVER SINCE
THE LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE
BECAME A MAJOR NATIONAL STORY.
00:06:12
Narrator: THE DAILY PRESS
REPORTS FUELED THE FEAR
MANY CITIZENS FELT,
00:06:17
AND NOWHERE WAS
THAT FEAR MORE EVIDENT
00:06:19
THAN IN THE TOWN
OF MONESSEN, PENNSYLVANIA.
00:06:23
[CHURCH BELL TOLLING]
00:06:26
ANDREW HORNACK WAS A BUS DRIVER
00:06:29
WHO HAD DRIVEN
A DRUM AND BUGLE CORP
00:06:31
TO THE LEGIONNAIRES'
CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA.
00:06:34
AFTER HE ARRIVED HOME,
00:06:35
HE FELL ILL AND DIED
FROM LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE.
00:06:39
ALTHOUGH HE WAS
EXTREMELY POPULAR,
00:06:42
FEW OF HIS FRIENDS WENT TO PAY
THEIR LAST RESPECTS.
00:06:45
WELL, WE'VE HAD A VERY SPARSE
VISITATION AT THE FUNERAL HOME
00:06:50
BECAUSE...PEOPLE SEEM TO FEEL
00:06:52
THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOME DANGER
INVOLVED TO THEIR OWN LIFE.
00:06:56
Narrator: DR. LEWIS POLK
WAS PHILADELPHIA'S
HEALTH COMMISSIONER,
00:06:59
AND UNDERSTOOD PEOPLE'S FEARS.
00:07:01
Polk: IF YOU DEAL WITH
A CATASTROPHE OF A KNOWN CAUSE--
00:07:05
WHETHER IT'S A FLOOD OR FIRE,
AN EARTHQUAKE, WHATEVER--
00:07:08
EVEN THOUGH IT MAY CAUSE
A LOT OF DAMAGE AND EVEN
KILL A LOT OF PEOPLE,
00:07:12
SOMEHOW, AS HUMAN BEINGS,
00:07:14
ALL OF US CAN DEAL WITH
A KNOWN-CAUSE CATASTROPHE
00:07:18
BETTER THAN AN UNKNOWN
CAUSE, A TRUE MYSTERY.
00:07:22
Narrator: DR. FRASER AND
THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
00:07:25
NEEDED TO GATHER INFORMATION.
00:07:27
INVESTIGATORS
CRISSCROSSED THE STATE
00:07:29
TO INTERVIEW SICK LEGIONNAIRES.
00:07:31
AT THE GO-GETTERS'
BREAKFAST ON FRIDAY,
DID YOU HAVE THE COFFEE?
00:07:35
YEAH, JUST THE COFFEE.
NO ROLLS.
00:07:37
Narrator: THEY SENT
DETAILED QUESTIONNAIRES
00:07:39
TO EVERYONE WHO ATTENDED
THE CONVENTION.
00:07:42
"ON FRIDAY THE 23rd,
00:07:43
HOW OFTEN DID YOU RIDE
THE MAIN ELEVATORS?"
00:07:46
MAN, I DON'T KNOW.
00:07:48
Narrator: THEY COLLECTED
HUNDREDS OF DUST, AIR,
00:07:51
WATER, AND ICE SAMPLES,
00:07:53
AS WELL AS RAT
AND PIGEON DROPPINGS
00:07:56
FROM EVERY HOTEL USED
00:07:58
BY THE LEGIONNAIRES.
00:07:59
ANYTHING WHICH MIGHT
BE OF INTEREST
00:08:01
TO THE BIOLOGISTS
AND TOXICOLOGISTS
OF THE C.D.C.
00:08:04
WAS SENT TO ATLANTA
FOR ANALYSIS,
00:08:07
AND TISSUE SAMPLES
FROM THE AUTOPSIES
00:08:10
WERE ALSO COLLECTED
AND ANALYZED.
00:08:12
C.D.C. INVESTIGATORS HAD PLENTY
OF COMPETING THEORIES.
00:08:17
SWINE FLU WAS AT THE TOP
OF THEIR LIST,
00:08:20
SINCE THE SYMPTOMS WERE SIMILAR.
00:08:22
PARROT FEVER WAS ALSO
A POSSIBILITY--
00:08:24
A DISEASE SPREAD
BY SICK PIGEONS...
00:08:29
PERHAPS A MASSIVE CASE
OF FOOD POISONING,
00:08:31
CAUSED BY A PROBLEM AT ONE
OF THE CONVENTION'S
HALF-DOZEN HOTELS.
00:08:36
Polk: THERE WERE
SOME THOUGHTS EARLY ON
00:08:39
THAT PEOPLE IN TOWN
FOR A CONVENTION
00:08:41
POSSIBLY MIGHT HAVE OVERINDULGED
IN ONE OF SEVERAL WAYS,
00:08:45
WHETHER IT'S...DRINKING
OR SEX OR SOMETHING.
00:08:50
Narrator: WAS IT A NEW STRAIN
OF VENEREAL DISEASE
00:08:53
CALLED SUPER GONORRHEA?
00:08:55
THE SYMPTOMS WERE SIMILAR
TO SUPER GONORRHEA,
00:08:58
AND THERE HAD
BEEN TWO OUTBREAKS IN OTHER
CITIES EARLIER THAT YEAR.
00:09:02
OR DID THE OUTBREAK STEM
00:09:05
FROM THE RATS AND THE RECENT
SANITATION STRIKE,
00:09:08
WHICH LEFT MOUNTAINS
OF UNCOLLECTED GARBAGE
00:09:10
IN THE VERY STREETS
THE LEGIONNAIRES WALKED THROUGH?
00:09:14
AND WHAT ABOUT
THE ANONYMOUS TIP
00:09:17
ABOUT A POSSIBLE
TERRORIST ATTACK?
00:09:19
WAS IT POSSIBLE THE LEGIONNAIRES
HAD BEEN POISONED?
00:09:24
BUT ONE OF THE MOST
PUZZLING QUESTIONS
00:09:26
WAS WHY SOME LEGIONNAIRES
DEVELOPED THE DISEASE,
00:09:30
WHILE OTHERS DID NOT.
00:09:31
AFTER LEGIONNAIRE BOB McGARRY'S
ROOMMATE DEVELOPED PNEUMONIA,
00:09:35
THE C.D.C. WANTED HIM
TO GET TO A HOSPITAL RIGHT AWAY.
00:09:39
AND WHEN I TOLD THEM
WHAT I WAS THERE FOR,
00:09:42
THEY ROLLED OUT
THE RED CARPET, AND, UH,
00:09:45
THEY GAVE ME A PHYSICAL
LIKE I NEVER HAD BEFORE
IN MY LIFE.
00:09:50
THEY WANTED EVERY TYPE OF...
00:09:53
SALIVA...
00:09:55
URINE...
00:09:56
AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT I COULD
GIVE THEM, TO BE SENT
00:09:59
TO THE DISEASE CONTROL CENTER
IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
00:10:03
WHAT WE FOUND, THOUGH,
IN OUR SURVEY OF ROOMMATES,
00:10:06
WAS THAT BEING
A ROOMMATE OF SOMEBODY
00:10:08
WITH LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE
DIDN'T INCREASE YOUR CHANCE
00:10:11
OF GETTING
LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE.
00:10:13
AND THAT WAS
A VERY IMPORTANT FINDING,
00:10:16
BECAUSE IT SUGGESTED THAT,
FIRST OF ALL,
00:10:18
EXPOSURE WASN'T OCCURRING
IN THE BEDROOMS THERE,
00:10:21
AND IT ALSO SUGGESTED IT WASN'T
SPREAD PERSON-TO-PERSON.
00:10:26
Narrator: WITHIN 48 HOURS,
00:10:27
THE FIRST TISSUE SPECIMENS
ANALYZED BY THE C.D.C.
00:10:31
ELIMINATED TYPHOID,
00:10:33
THE LASSA AND MARBURG VIRUSES,
00:10:36
PERTUSSIS, AND THE PLAGUE.
00:10:38
AND AFTER 5 DAYS,
00:10:40
THEY ELIMINATED MANY MORE,
INCLUDING HERPES,
00:10:43
MUMPS AND MEASLES VIRUSES,
00:10:45
AS WELL AS SOME
OF THEIR TOP SUSPECTS.
00:10:47
BLOOD TESTS ALSO ELIMINATED
THE POSSIBILITY
00:10:51
THAT IT WAS SUPER GONORRHEA.
00:10:53
THE C.D.C. HAD ELIMINATED
A NUMBER OF POSSIBILITIES,
00:10:56
BUT THEY STILL COULDN'T
IDENTIFY THE KILLER.
00:11:00
THE QUESTIONNAIRES YIELDED
SOME IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
00:11:04
Fraser: AMONG THE VARIOUS
HOTELS WE SURVEYED,
00:11:06
THE HIGHEST RATE
OF ILLNESS THAT LOOKED
LIKE LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE
00:11:09
WAS AMONG PEOPLE WHO WERE
REGISTERED AT THE BELLEVUE
STRATFORD HOTEL,
00:11:12
AND SPECIFICALLY IN THE WEEK OF
THE AMERICAN LEGION CONVENTION.
00:11:15
Narrator: HOWEVER,
THERE WERE SOME VICTIMS
OF LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE
00:11:19
WHO WEREN'T
LEGIONNAIRES AT ALL,
00:11:21
HADN'T ATTENDED
THEIR CONVENTION,
00:11:23
AND NEVER SET FOOT INSIDE
THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL.
00:11:27
Fraser: THERE WERE PEOPLE
WHO WALKED ALONG THE SIDEWALK
00:11:30
IN FRONT OF THE BELLEVUE
STRATFORD WHO GOT SICK,
WHO NEVER WENT INSIDE
00:11:33
OR ON THE STREET ACROSS THE WAY.
00:11:36
INDEED, WE FOUND THAT PEOPLE--
00:11:38
THE MORE TIME PEOPLE SPENT
ON THE SIDEWALK
00:11:41
IN FRONT OF THE BELLEVUE
STRATFORD, THE MORE LIKELY
THEY WERE TO GET SICK.
00:11:45
Narrator: BUT FOR SOME
UNKNOWN REASON,
00:11:48
NONE OF THE EMPLOYEES
OF THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD HOTEL
00:11:51
CONTRACTED THE DISEASE.
00:11:53
WHAT WERE THE COMMON FACTORS
AMONG THOSE WHO DID?
00:11:57
MOST WERE OVER THE AGE OF 50.
00:11:59
17 OF THE FIRST 21 FATALITIES
WERE SMOKERS,
00:12:03
AND SOME HAD OTHER
UNDERLYING ILLNESSES.
00:12:06
WHEN FRASER REVIEWED THE
BELLEVUE STRATFORD'S EMPLOYEES,
00:12:10
HE DISCOVERED THAT, ON AVERAGE,
00:12:12
THEY WERE 10 YEARS YOUNGER
AND HEALTHIER THAN THOSE
WHO GOT SICK.
00:12:16
BY NOW, 27 WERE DEAD.
00:12:20
THE DEATH TOLL WAS MOUNTING,
00:12:23
AND FRASER STILL HAD NO IDEA
00:12:25
WHAT WAS KILLING THESE PEOPLE
00:12:27
OR HOW IT WAS BEING SPREAD.
00:12:32
Narrator: DR. FRASER
AND HIS TEAM WERE CONVINCED
00:12:35
THE OUTBREAK OF LEGIONNAIRES'
DISEASE HAD SOMETHING TO DO
00:12:39
WITH THE BELLEVUE
STRATFORD HOTEL,
00:12:41
BUT THEY HADN'T FOUND
THE CONNECTION.
00:12:44
IT'S JUST AMAZING.
00:12:46
THEY JUST CAN'T
FIGURE IT OUT.
00:12:48
WHY SOME WOULD GET SICK
AND OTHERS DID NOT?
00:12:50
RIGHT, RIGHT,
BECAUSE, AS I SAID,
00:12:52
I SLEPT IN THE SAME ROOM
WITH TWO FELLAS
THAT ARE DEAD.
00:12:55
Narrator: FRASER BELIEVED
THAT THE AGENT, OR CAUSE
OF THE DISEASE,
00:12:59
CAME FROM SOMEWHERE
NEAR THE BELLEVUE
STRATFORD HOTEL.
00:13:03
AND SINCE INDIVIDUALS
ON THE STREET
00:13:05
HAD ALSO DEVELOPED THE DISEASE,
00:13:08
THAT TOLD HIM SOMETHING ELSE.
00:13:11
WE HAD SOME EVIDENCE
00:13:13
THAT IT WAS NOT
WATERBORNE OR FOODBORNE.
00:13:16
AND SO WE WERE DEVELOPING
THE IDEA THAT THIS MIGHT
BE AN AIRBORNE INFECTION,
00:13:20
BUT WE HAD SOME ADDITIONAL
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER ABOUT THAT.
00:13:24
Narrator: BUT IF THE AGENT
WAS INSIDE THE HOTEL,
00:13:27
FRASER'S MEDICAL DETECTIVES
COULDN'T FIND IT.
00:13:30
AND SINCE THE OUTBREAK
WAS SLOWING DOWN,
00:13:33
HE BELIEVED THE CAUSE
MIGHT NOW BE GONE.
00:13:35
HIS ONLY HOPE WAS
THAT THE SCIENTISTS
IN THE LAB COULD FIND IT.
00:13:40
AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF CONNECTICUT,
00:13:42
DR. WILLIAM SUNDERMAN RECEIVED
AN ANONYMOUS LETTER SAYING
00:13:46
THAT THE LEGIONNAIRES WERE
INTENTIONALLY POISONED
00:13:49
WHILE IN PHILADELPHIA.
00:13:50
SUNDERMAN TURNED THE LETTER
OVER TO THE F.B.I.,
00:13:53
BUT SUNDERMAN WAS AN EXPERT
ON NICKEL CARBONYL--
00:13:57
A CLEAR, ODORLESS LIQUID
00:13:59
EASILY TRANSFORMED
INTO A LETHAL GAS.
00:14:02
HE DID A LITTLE
OF HIS OWN RESEARCH.
00:14:05
...NICKEL COULD SPREAD
THROUGH THE AIR,
00:14:07
THAT IT CERTAINLY COULD
CAUSE PNEUMONIA,
00:14:10
THAT IT CAUSED A PARTICULAR
PATTERN OF PNEUMONIA
00:14:14
THAT WAS NOT SO DIFFERENT
00:14:16
FROM WHAT WE WERE SEEING
IN THE LEGIONNAIRES' CASES
00:14:18
AS TO BE OBVIOUSLY...
EXCLUDABLE.
00:14:22
Narrator: TESTS
ON LIVER SAMPLES REVEALED
00:14:25
THAT NICKEL WAS PRESENT
IN THOSE WHO DIED.
00:14:28
DR. WILLIAM SUNDERMAN,
THE CHIEF TOXICOLOGIST
00:14:31
DOING THE RESEARCH WORK AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT,
00:14:34
HAS PRETTY WELL ESTABLISHED
THAT IT WAS NICKEL CARBONYL.
00:14:38
Narrator: BUT DR. SUNDERMAN'S
DISCOVERY WAS NOT
THE BREAKTHROUGH.
00:14:43
AFTER DAYS OF TESTING,
RESEARCHERS SUSPECTED
00:14:46
THAT NICKEL WAS PEELING OFF
OF THE SCALPELS USED
DURING THE AUTOPSIES.
00:14:52
WHEN PLASTIC SCALPELS WERE USED,
00:14:54
THE NICKEL WAS
NO LONGER PRESENT.
00:14:56
INVESTIGATORS WERE NO CLOSER
00:14:58
TO FINDING THE CAUSE
OF LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE.
00:15:02
THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT
WE MAY NEVER FIND THE ANSWER.
00:15:05
HOWEVER, I WILL PLEDGE
00:15:08
THAT THIS EFFORT
AND INVESTIGATION WILL CONTINUE,
00:15:12
IF IT TAKES A YEAR OR TWO YEARS,
00:15:14
TO CONTINUE THE INVESTIGATION
TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT.
00:15:24
Narrator: OVER
THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS,
SOME OF THE C.D.C. STAFF
00:15:28
DECIDED TO TAKE
SOME MUCH-NEEDED TIME OFF.
00:15:31
THEY HAD BEEN WORKING
AROUND-THE-CLOCK
TO FIND THE CAUSE
00:15:34
OF THE LEGIONNAIRES' OUTBREAK,
WITHOUT SUCCESS.
00:15:37
THERE WERE NO NEW CASES
OF LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE,
00:15:41
BUT STILL NO ANSWERS.
00:15:43
DR. JOSEPH McDADE, A C.D.C.
MICROBIOLOGIST, AND HIS WIFE
00:15:48
WERE LOOKING FORWARD TO
THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS.
00:15:51
JOE, IT'S BEEN
6 MONTHS SINCE
THIS FIRST BROKE OUT.
00:15:53
Narrator: BUT WHAT SHOULD
HAVE BEEN A DIVERSION
00:15:55
TURNED TO FRUSTRATION
AS FRIENDS ASKED
00:16:00
WHY HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES
00:16:01
WERE UNABLE TO FIND
THE CAUSE OF THE OUTBREAK.
00:16:05
FRUSTRATED, ANGRY,
AND EMBARRASSED,
00:16:08
McDADE CANCELED
HIS CHRISTMAS VACATION
00:16:11
AND RETURNED TO HIS LAB.
00:16:14
HE PULLED THE SLIDE
OF A GUINEA PIG
00:16:17
WHICH HAD BEEN INJECTED
WITH LIVER TISSUE
00:16:20
FROM A LEGIONNAIRES' VICTIM.
00:16:22
IT WAS A SLIDE HE HAD SEEN
00:16:25
HUNDREDS OF TIMES BEFORE.
00:16:27
BUT THIS TIME,
00:16:29
IN HIS DESERTED LAB,
00:16:31
HE NOTICED SOMETHING
HE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE--
00:16:35
A NEW BACTERIUM,
00:16:37
ONE DR. McDADE
HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE.
00:16:46
Narrator: DR. JOSEPH McDADE,
A C.D.C. MICROBIOLOGIST,
00:16:50
SAW SOMETHING
HE NEVER NOTICED BEFORE
00:16:52
AS HE EXAMINED TISSUES
OF GUINEA PIGS EXPOSED
00:16:56
TO THE MYSTERIOUS DISEASE.
00:16:58
BUT AT FIRST,
HE THOUGHT HE WAS LOOKING
AT A CONTAMINATED SPECIMEN.
00:17:03
SO THEY WERE PROBABLY
SOME OTHER KIND OF BACTERIA.
00:17:06
AND HE,
AS I UNDERSTAND IT,
00:17:09
DECIDED TO RETEST
THOSE SPECIMENS--
00:17:11
NO LONGER ASSUMING
THAT THESE WERE CONTAMINANTS,
00:17:16
BUT ON THE OFF CHANCE
THAT THIS WAS THE AGENT.
00:17:19
Narrator: HE TESTED
HIS NEWFOUND ORGANISM
WITH A BLOOD SAMPLE
00:17:23
FROM A LEGIONNAIRES'
DISEASE SURVIVOR.
00:17:26
THAT BLOOD SAMPLE
WOULD CONTAIN ANTIBODIES
00:17:30
WHICH SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT
THE DISEASE.
00:17:33
IF THE ANTIBODIES WERE PRESENT,
00:17:36
THE SAMPLE WOULD TURN GREEN.
00:17:38
McDADE LOOKED
THROUGH THE MICROSCOPE
00:17:42
AND SAW A BRIGHT GREEN GLOW.
00:17:45
SO HE DEMONSTRATED
THAT THE BUG WAS PRESENT
00:17:48
IN THE LIVER
OF THE GUINEA PIG,
00:17:51
AND HE DEMONSTRATED
THAT LEGIONNAIRES
DEVELOPED ANTIBODIES
00:17:55
SPECIFIC TO THAT AGENT.
00:17:56
WELL, THAT WAS THE BREAKTHROUGH.
00:17:59
Narrator: 147 DAYS
AFTER THE OUTBREAK,
00:18:03
THE BACTERIUM WHICH KILLED 34
00:18:06
AND HOSPITALIZED 221 OTHERS
00:18:09
WAS OFFICIALLY GIVEN
ITS NAME--
00:18:11
LEGIONELLA PNEUMOPHILA,
00:18:14
IN HONOR OF THE LEGIONNAIRES
IN PHILADELPHIA.
00:18:17
AND RESEARCHERS
IDENTIFIED AN ANTIBIOTIC
00:18:20
WHICH WOULD KILL IT--
ERYTHROMYCIN.
00:18:24
BUT THE QUESTION REMAINED:
00:18:26
WHERE DID THE BACTERIA
COME FROM,
00:18:29
AND HOW WAS IT SPREAD?
00:18:31
BY THE TIME RESEARCHERS KNEW
WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR,
00:18:34
THEY COULDN'T FIND IT IN ANY
OF THE SAMPLES FROM THE HOTEL.
00:18:38
THE BACTERIA HAD
LONG SINCE DIED.
00:18:41
BUT RESEARCHERS QUICKLY
DISCOVERED ITS PROPERTIES.
00:18:44
IT MULTIPLIED IN WARM,
WATERY CONDITIONS,
00:18:47
AND COULD TRAVEL
THROUGH THE AIR
00:18:49
IN CONTAMINATED
WATER DROPLETS OR MIST.
00:18:52
SINCE SOME OF THE VICTIMS
NEVER SET FOOT
00:18:55
INSIDE THE BELLEVUE
STRATFORD HOTEL,
00:18:57
BUT WERE ON THE SIDEWALK
IN FRONT OF THE HOTEL,
00:19:01
DR. FRASER BELIEVES
THAT THE BACTERIA
00:19:04
MOST LIKELY CAME FROM
THE ROOF OF THE HOTEL--
00:19:07
FROM THE AIR CONDITIONING
WATER-COOLING TOWERS.
00:19:11
INSIDE THE COOLING TOWERS,
00:19:13
WARM WATER IS COOLED
00:19:15
AS IT CASCADES
OVER WOODEN LOUVERS.
00:19:18
THE EXCESS WATER FALLS
00:19:20
INTO A COLLECTION PAN
AT THE BOTTOM,
00:19:22
WHERE IT STAGNATES IF IT FAILS
TO DRAIN PROPERLY.
00:19:25
INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE
IT WAS HERE,
00:19:29
INSIDE THESE
WATER-COOLING UNITS,
00:19:32
WHERE THE DEADLY
LEGIONELLA BACTERIA
00:19:35
GREW AND MULTIPLIED.
00:19:37
IT WAS DRAWN UP INTO THE AIR
00:19:39
BY THE UNIT'S POWERFUL FANS.
00:19:42
NOW AIRBORNE,
00:19:44
THE DEADLY MIST OF BACTERIA
AND WARM WATER
00:19:47
FLEW UP INTO THE ATMOSPHERE
00:19:49
AND FLOATED DOWN THE SIDE
OF THE BUILDING,
00:19:52
MAKING ITS WAY
TO THE STREET BELOW.
00:19:55
IT LANDED ON PEDESTRIANS
WALKING BY THE HOTEL,
00:19:59
AND WAS ALSO DRAWN
INTO THE HOTEL LOBBY
00:20:01
BY INTAKE FANS ON THE SOUTH SIDE
OF THE BUILDING.
00:20:05
HOTEL EMPLOYEES PROBABLY
DEVELOPED AN IMMUNITY
TO THE BACTERIA,
00:20:08
OR WEREN'T SUSCEPTIBLE
BECAUSE THEY WERE
YOUNGER AND HEALTHIER
00:20:12
THAN THOSE WHO CONTRACTED
THE DISEASE.
00:20:15
THE COOLING-TOWER THEORY
WAS NEVER PROVEN,
00:20:19
PROBABLY BECAUSE THE BACTERIA
00:20:21
IN THE BELLEVUE STRATFORD'S
COOLING TOWERS HAD ALREADY DIED.
00:20:24
BUT INVESTIGATORS DISCOVERED
THE SAME BACTERIA
00:20:28
IN SIMILAR COOLING TOWERS
IN OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
00:20:32
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE LEGIONELLA
00:20:35
HAS BEEN KILLING
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
00:20:39
AND WHEN BLOOD SAMPLES
FROM EARLIER
00:20:41
UNEXPLAINED OUTBREAKS
WERE EXAMINED,
00:20:44
THEY DISCOVERED
THE LEGIONELLA BACTERIA.
00:20:48
AUSTIN, MINNESOTA, 1957--
00:20:51
THE EARLIEST
DOCUMENTED OUTBREAK;
00:20:54
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1965,
00:20:57
WHERE LEGIONELLA KILLED
16 PEOPLE.
00:21:00
BOB McGARRY AND CHARLIE DAVIS
00:21:03
WERE TWO OF THE MORE
FORTUNATE LEGIONNAIRES
00:21:06
FROM THE 1976 CONVENTION.
00:21:08
CHARLIE DAVIS DEVELOPED
LEGIONNAIRES' DISEASE,
00:21:11
SPENT 3 WEEKS IN THE HOSPITAL,
BUT RECOVERED.
00:21:14
BOB McGARRY ESCAPED
THE DISEASE ALTOGETHER,
00:21:17
EVEN THOUGH HE AND CHARLIE
ROOMED TOGETHER.
00:21:21
BOB WAS YOUNGER, DIDN'T SMOKE,
00:21:23
OR HAVE ANY PREVIOUS
RESPIRATORY AILMENTS.
00:21:26
BUT THE OUTBREAK HAD
A LASTING EFFECT
00:21:29
ON THESE TWO LIFELONG FRIENDS.
00:21:31
THEY LOST MANY OF
THEIR BROTHERS THAT SUMMER,
00:21:35
AND NEITHER ONE
EVER ATTENDED
00:21:37
ANOTHER LEGIONNAIRES'
CONVENTION.
00:21:41
I WAS AT THE WRONG PLACE
AT THE RIGHT TIME,
00:21:44
AS FAR AS THAT WAS CONCERNED.
00:21:46
HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR
THE UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT
THAT OCCURRED
00:21:50
WITH THE REST OF
THE DELEGATES AND BROTHERS,
00:21:52
I COULD SAY TODAY
IT WAS A GREAT TIME.
00:21:55
BUT I WAS NOT GOING
TO PRESS MY LUCK.
00:21:58
I SEEN IT ONCE.
I DON'T WANT TO DO IT AGAIN.
00:22:08
I SEEN IT ONCE.
I DON'T WANT TO DO IT AGAIN.
