Pontiac fever

Pontiac fever
Specialty	Infectious diseases

Pontiac fever is an acute, nonfatal respiratory disease caused by various species of Gram-negative bacteria in the genus Legionella . It causes a mild upper respiratory infection that resembles acute influenza. Pontiac fever resolves spontaneously and often goes undiagnosed. Both Pontiac fever and the more severe Legionnaire's disease may be caused by the same bacterium, but Pontiac fever does not include pneumonia. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Cause

Species of Legionella known to cause Pontiac fever include Legionella pneumophila , Legionella longbeachae , Legionella feeleii , Legionella micdadei , and Legionella anisa . ^[6] Sources of the causative agents are aquatic systems and potting soil. The first outbreak caused by inhalation of aerosolized potting soil was discovered in New Zealand in January 2007. A total of 10 workers at a nursery came down with Pontiac fever. It was the first identification of L. longbeachae. ^[7] Pontiac fever does not spread from person to person. It is acquired through aerosolization of water droplets and/or potting soil containing Legionella bacteria. ^[8]

Epidemiology

Pontiac fever is known to have a short incubation period of 1 to 3 days. No fatalities have been reported and cases resolve spontaneously without treatment. ^[9] It is often not reported. ^[10] Age, gender, and smoking do not seem to be risk factors. Pontiac fever seems to affect young people in the age medians of 29 to 32. Pathogenesis of the Pontiac fever is poorly known. ^{[11] [12]}

History

Pontiac fever was named after the city of Pontiac, Michigan, where the first case was recognized. ^[5] In 1968, several workers at the county's department of health came down with a fever and mild flu symptoms, but not pneumonia. ^[5] After the 1976 Legionnaires' outbreak in Philadelphia, the Michigan health department re-examined blood samples and discovered the workers had been infected with the newly identified Legionella pneumophila . ^{[5] [13] [14]} An outbreak caused by Legionella micdadei in early 1988 in the UK became known as Lochgoilhead fever. ^[15] Since that time, other species of Legionella that cause Pontiac fever have been identified, most notably in New Zealand, in 2007 where Legionella longbeachae was discovered. The New Zealand outbreak also marked the first time Pontiac fever had been traced to potting soil.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "General Information- Pontiac Fever". HPA. Retrieved 2013-04-07.
2. Castor, Mei Lin; Wagstrom, Elizabeth A.; Danila, Richard N.; Smith, Kirk E.; Naimi, Timothy S.; Besser, John M.; Peacock, Keith A.; Juni, Billie A.; Hunt, John M.; Bartkus, Joanne M.; Kirkhorn, Steven R.; Lynfield, Ruth (May 2005). "An Outbreak of Pontiac Fever with Respiratory Distress among Workers Performing High-Pressure Cleaning at a Sugar-Beet Processing Plant". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 191 (9): 1530–1537. doi: 10.1086/428776 . PMID   15809913.
3. Fields, Barry S.; Haupt, Thomas; Davis, Jeffrey P.; Arduino, Matthew J.; Miller, Phyllis H.; Butler, Jay C. (15 November 2001). "Pontiac Fever Due to Legionella micdadei from a Whirlpool Spa: Possible Role of Bacterial Endotoxin". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 184 (10): 1289–1292. doi: 10.1086/324211 . PMID   11679917.
4. "General Information- Pontiac Fever & Legionnaires' Disease". Legionellacontrol. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
5. "Legionella (Legionnaires' Disease and Pontiac Fever)". CDC. CDC. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
6. Phin, Nick; Parry-Ford, Frances; Harrison, Timothy; Stagg, Helen R; Zhang, Natalie; Kumar, Kartik; Lortholary, Olivier; Zumla, Alimuddin; Abubakar, Ibrahim (October 2014). "Epidemiology and clinical management of Legionnaires' disease" (PDF). The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 14 (10): 1011–1021. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(14)70713-3. PMID   24970283.
7. CRAMP, G. J.; HARTE, D.; DOUGLAS, N. M.; GRAHAM, F.; SCHOUSBOE, M.; SYKES, K. (28 September 2009). "An outbreak of Pontiac fever due to Legionella longbeachae serogroup 2 found in potting mix in a horticultural nursery in New Zealand". Epidemiology and Infection. 138 (1): 15–20. doi: 10.1017/S0950268809990835 . PMID   19781115.
8. Lauri A. Hicks; Laurel E. Garrison (2011-07-01). "Legionellosis (Legionnaires' Disease & Pontiac Fever) - Chapter 3 - 2012 Yellow Book - Travelers' Health - CDC". C.cdc.gov. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
9. "Legionella (Legionnaires' Disease and Pontiac Fever". CDC. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
10. Pancer, K; Stypułkowska-Misiurewicz, H (2003). "Gorączka Pontiac - pozapłucna postać legionelozy" [Pontiac fever - non-pneumonic legionellosis]. Przeglad Epidemiologiczny (in Polish). 57 (4): 607–12. PMID   15029835.
11. Fraser, D.; Deubner, D.; Hill, D.; Gilliam, D. (17 August 1979). "Nonpneumonic, short-incubation-period Legionellosis (Pontiac fever) in men who cleaned a steam turbine condenser". Science. 205 (4407): 690–691. Bibcode:1979Sci...205..690F. doi:10.1126/science.462175. PMID   462175.
12. Friedman, S; Spitalny, K; Barbaree, J; Faur, Y; McKinney, R (May 1987). "Pontiac fever outbreak associated with a cooling tower". American Journal of Public Health. 77 (5): 568–572. doi:10.2105/ajph.77.5.568. PMC   1647035 . PMID   3565648.
13. "In Philadelphia 30 Years Ago, an Eruption of Illness and Fear". The New York Times. 1 August 2006.
14. Tossa, Paul; Deloge-Abarkan, Magali; Zmirou-Navier, Denis; Hartemann, Philippe; Mathieu, Laurence (28 April 2006). "Pontiac fever: an operational definition for epidemiological studies". BMC Public Health. 6 (1): 112. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-6-112 . PMC   1468404 . PMID   16646972.
15. Goldberg, DavidJ.; Collier, PeterW.; Fallon, RonaldJ.; Mckay, ThomasM.; Markwick, TerenceA.; Wrench, JohnG.; Emslie, JohnA.; Forbes, GeraldI.; Macpherson, AgnesC.; Reid, Daniel (February 1989). "Lochgoilhead fever: outbreak of non-pneumonic legionellosis due to Legionella micdadei". The Lancet. 333 (8633): 316–318. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(89)91319-6. PMID   2563467. S2CID   35846776.