ECDC is organizing the third edition of the course “Legionnaires’ disease: risk assessment, outbreak investigation and control” delivered by the Health Protection Agency in Budapest, Hungary from 25 to 28 February 2013.

The goal of this training is to strengthen the participant’s knowledge and skills in order to improve the collaboration and communication among the different disciplines (microbiology, environmental health and epidemiology) involved in a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak investigation and control.

 Contents include: clinical, epidemiological and environmental aspects of Legionnaires’ disease, water systems and control measures, diagnostics, principles of outbreak investigation in different settings (community, travel-related and nosocomial outbreaks), risk assessment and communication.

The course incorporates different teaching methods: short presentations, group work, risk assessments using photographic material and field visits to understand potential sources of outbreaks (e.g. cooling tower, spa pool and water systems).  

 The target audience is multidisciplinary, consisting of mid-career and/or senior experts in public health, particularly those dealing with Legionnaires’ disease. A total of 15 participants, from 5 different European Member States or EEA/EFTA countries, will have the possibility of attending this course.  

 Selection process: The ECDC Competent Bodies have been invited to propose one epidemiologist, one microbiologist and one environmental health officer from their respective countries.