Join Public Health Ontario for their monthly Microbiology Rounds. This month’s topic will be “Legionellosis in Ontario: Epidemiology and testing updates.”
The session will provide an overview of the transmission, environmental sources, risk factors, clinical manifestations, epidemiology, and burden of legionellosis, with a focus on current trends in Ontario. Participants will review available laboratory diagnostic methods, including culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and urine antigen testing (UAT), and discuss their strengths, limitations, and appropriate clinical application. The session will also highlight upcoming changes to Public Health Ontario’s Legionella UAT testing criteria and discuss how these updates may inform diagnostic decision-making and case detection.
Presenters:
Austin Zygmunt, MSc, MD, CCFP, FRCPC is a Public Health Physician in Communicable Disease Control at Public Health Ontario. His portfolio includes environmentally acquired infections, including legionellosis, where he provides scientific, technical, and medical expertise to public health partners. His work supports legionellosis surveillance, outbreak investigation, public health guidance, and preparedness and response activities across Ontario.
Joseph Zeppa, PhD, FCCM is a Clinical Microbiologist at Public Health Ontario, specializing in reference bacterial identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and respiratory bacteriology, including legionellosis. He earned his PhD from Western University, where he studied Group A Streptococcus, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Toronto, focusing on Mycobacterium tuberculosis and pathogenic Neisseria species. Zeppa recently completed Clinical Microbiology residency training at the University of Toronto and is committed to advancing laboratory diagnostics and improving patient care through clinical and public health microbiology.
Date: September 3, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: Online via Microsoft Teams.
Please register in advance on the event website.