Five South Bronx Buildings Missed Legionella Tests Before 1-Death Outbreak

2 articles · Updated · Gothamist · Sep 11

Five buildings in the two South Bronx ZIP codes tied to the outbreak lacked recent Legionella test records, with two showing no bacterial testing on file and others last reporting in late June or Aug. 4.
38 active cooling towers sit across 26 buildings in the affected area, and all but six had submitted monthly results as required by city law; there is still no indication any of the five buildings caused the outbreak.
One person has died in the South Bronx outbreak, the city’s second this summer, while residents were urged to seek care for cough, fever or muscle aches and a virtual town hall was set for Sunday.
82% of towers in the area had been inspected in the past year, and seven of the 38 had missed annual inspections as of mid-June, even as the health department says it has sampled towers and will order immediate cleaning if any test positive.
The scrutiny follows criticism of the city’s earlier Upper East Side response, where an outbreak that began in July had killed 11 people by late August.