Legionella spp. Surveillance Network, North-eastern of Thailand

Abstract

Legionella spp. Surveillance Network is a coordinated program among government offices including regional medical sciences centers, regional health promotion centers, provincial public health offices, provincial hospitals, municipalities and private companies such as hotels and resorts in the North-eastern of Thailand. The aim of the network is to promote discontamination of Legionella spp. in water supply and air condition system of hotels and resorts in preparation for the ASEAN Community. In 2014, the Network activities composed of seminars on Legionella spp. and biosafety management for government officers, owners and employees of hotels and resorts covering the respective areas; enrollment of new hotels and resorts into the network; sampling water of water supplies and cooling towers of some hotels and resorts; and conclusive seminars of this program. From those processes, there were 23 hotels and resorts enrolled in the program. By visiting 23 places, different maintenance methods were found depending on sizes and services. From 129 samples collected, Legionella spp. was detected in 19 samples (14.7%). As a result, all hotels and resorts enrolled acquired good practices in maintenance of water and air conditioning systems for the prevention of Legionella spp. contamination. They could be good models for other facilities.