Atypical Legionella-like organisms: fastidious water-associated bacteria pathogenic for man.

A group of related bacteria designated atypical Legionella-like organisms (ALLO) has been identified. ALLO, like L. pneumophila, are fastidious gram-negative rods that grow well on charcoal yeast extract (CYE) agar and produce ground glass colonies and browning of modified yeast extract agar. Unlike L. pneumophila, ALLO do not grow well on Feeley-Gorman (FG) agar, and on CYE agar they fluoresce under longwave ultraviolet light. ALLO and L. pneumophila have a similar predominance of branched-chain forms among total cellular fatty acids but have distinctive fatty-acid profiles. 2 patients with culture-verified ALLO pneumonia and 10 with pneumonia of uncertain aetiology who seroconverted to ALLO offer evidence that ALLO may be a cause of community-acquired pneumonia. Like L. pneumophila, ALLO appear to be water-associated; both persons with culture-verified ALLO infection were exposed to fresh water or its contents before becoming ill, and two strains of ALLO were isolated from water or wet environments.