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