Outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease present a public health challenge especially because fatal
outcomes still remain frequent. The aim of this study was to describe the abundance and
epidemiology of Legionellaceae in the human-made environment. Water was sampled from hot-
water taps in private and public buildings across the area of Göttingen, Germany, including
distant suburbs. Following isolation, we used polymerase chain reaction in order to generate
strain specific banding profiles of legionella isolates. In total, 70 buildings were examined. Of
these 18 (26%) had the bacterium in at least one water sample. Legionella pneumophila
serogroups 1, 4, 5 and 6 could be identified in the water samples. Most of the buildings were
colonized solely by one distinct strain, as proven by PCR. In three cases equal patterns were
found in separate buildings. There were two buildings in this study where isolates with different
serogroups were found at the same time.