A three-day convention of the American Legion opened in Philadelphia’s Bellevue-Stratford Hotel on July 21, 1976, coinciding with the celebrations in the city for the Bicentennial of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. More than 2000 delegates attended, most of whom were men. Three days after the convention ended, one legionnaire died. By July 30, 1976, four more men had died of similar symptoms – and then by August 1, 1976, six more. The symptoms were tiredness, lung congestion, fever, and chest pains.
A physician in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, Ernest Campbell, who had treated three of the patients, discovered that the men had attended the American Legion Convention in Philadelphia, so he notified the Pennsylvania Department of Health. American Legion officials also began to connect the deaths to their convention. The cases were were not all fatal and the actual number of deaths connected to the convention may never be correctly ascertained, but the number who became ill ranged from 149 to 182, and the number of deaths from 29 to 34.
Two of the deaths were men from the American Legion Post at Williamstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania: John B. Ralph and James Dolan.
An extensive investigation was conducted by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control. Early on, a “carrier” was ruled out as the cause and the focus shifted to the hotel environment. It was conclusively determined that a bacteria (later named Legionella), was breeding in the hotel’s cooling tower – and it was spread throughout the building through the air conditioning system.
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Above: The front page of the Pittsburgh Press, August, 6, 1976, featuring the headlines:
25 DEAD; LEGION ILLNESS EBBS
MAY REMAIN A MYSTERY, SCIENTISTS SAY
At the left side of the front page, is a photograph of Mrs. Mildred Ralph, with the following caption:
GRAVESIDE TRIBUTE – The American Flag is held by Mrs. Mildred Ralph, of Williamstown, 60 miles northeast of Harrisburg, after funeral services for son, John B. Ralph, victim of the “legion disease.”
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News articles from Newspapers.com.
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