Legionnaires' Disease

If you're of a certain age, the recent outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in New York may have you struggling to remember when the disease first made news and why it became known as "Legionnaires' disease."  This page from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives a brief history of the disease, and provides links to additional information about symptoms, treatment, and so on: 

http://www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/history.html

Between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires' every year, so "legions" of people do get it, but that isn't how it got its distinctive name.