The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in July 1976, when it hosted a statewide convention of the American Legion. Soon after, a pneumonia-like disease killed 29 people and sickened 182 more who had been in the hotel. The vast majority were members of the convention. The negative publicity associated with what became known as "Legionnaires' Disease" caused occupancy at the Bellevue-Stratford to plummet to 4 percent and the hotel finally closed on November 18, 1976. In 1977, Dr. Joseph McDade discovered a new bacterium, which was identified as the causative organism. It thrives in hot, damp places like the water of the cooling towers for the
Legionella clemsonensis Legionella clemsonensis Legionella clemsonensis was isolated in 2006, but was discovered in 2016 by Clemson University researchers. It is a Gram-negative bacterium. “"Legionella"” is named after the American Legion convention where the first outbreak occurred, killing 34 people and sickening 221 individuals in 1976. It occurred in Philadelphia during the convention for the association of the U.S. veterans. The specific name "clemsonensis"” derives from Clemson University, where undergraduates DNA-sequenced this new strain. "Legionella" has a correlation with another genus called "Coxiella". Both cause lung infection that can eventually lead to pneumonia due to the intracellular bacteria in aerosols. Based on