NYC Reports 3 Deaths From Legionnaires’ Disease; Cooling Tower Cleaning Underway

New York City officials are reporting that three people have died and eight people are currently hospitalized due to the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side.

More than 60 cases have been reported since the first cases were identified on July 2. The affected area encompasses the neighborhoods of Carnegie Hill and Yorkville (ZIP codes 10028, 10128, and 10075). Last week, the New York City Health Department said the number of new cases appeared to be slowing.

After the city tested the cooling towers of all 183 buildings in the affected neighborhoods, it began requiring owners of all towers with positive initial results in a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) screening to immediately drain, clean, and disinfect their cooling towers to reduce the risk of further exposure.

On July 13, health officials reported that 57 addresses with cooling towers that tested positive have completed the cleaning while 19 are in the process of doing so.

In addition to the PCR screening tests, a culture test is also being conducted for all sampled cooling towers. Culture tests take up to two weeks for results and will confirm which cooling towers had live Legionella bacteria growing at the time the water sample was collected.

Legionnaires outbreaks in the city are not new. Last summer, an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Central Harlem neighborhood led to at least six deaths and more than 100 diagnosed cases. The bacteria was discovered in 12 cooling towers on 10 buildings.

The site of the current outbreak, the Upper East Side, has more than three times the number of cooling towers tested during the Central Harlem investigation.

While the administration works to address the public health emergency, officials urged everyone in the area, especially older adults and other vulnerable communities, to seek care if they develop flu-like symptoms.