What caused the Legionnaires disease outbreak in NYC?

HARI SREENIVASAN:

The disease is often characterized as a severe form of pneumonia. And it appears that water cooling towers have been a breeding ground for the bacteria that causes it. Legionnaires is rarely the focus of much public attention, but there were more 4,500 cases in the U.S. in 2013.

Let's get some further information about the disease itself, the outbreak and the risks to people.

Dr. Anne Schuchat is the director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. She joins me now from Atlanta.

So tell me, first of all, what does this do to the body?

DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Legionnaire's disease is a form of pneumonia. It can cause fever, cough, difficulty breathing and other complications.

It's one of the more severe pneumonias. And we think between 5 percent and 30 percent of people who develop Legionnaires' disease can have fatal infections.

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