10 South Bronx Cooling Towers Test Positive for Legionella as Outbreak Kills 1 and Sickens 8
Updated
Updated · Gothamist · Sep 13
10 South Bronx Cooling Towers Test Positive for Legionella as Outbreak Kills 1 and Sickens 8
3 articles · Updated · Gothamist · Sep 13
Summary
PCR screening found Legionella DNA in 10 of 24 cooling tower systems sampled in the South Bronx, including towers at Yankee Stadium and Lincoln Hospital.
New York City ordered all 10 towers cleaned and disinfected by Sept. 14, but officials said culture tests are still needed to determine whether any contain live bacteria linked to the outbreak.
Nine people have been diagnosed in the cluster; three remain hospitalized, four have been discharged and one was not hospitalized, while officials said the disease is not contagious.
The affected towers sit in ZIP codes 10451 and 10456, and residents, workers or visitors there since late August were urged to seek care for fever, cough or shortness of breath.
The South Bronx cluster is the city’s second major Legionnaires’ outbreak this summer, after an Upper East Side outbreak in July killed 11 people and sickened 94.