NYC Health Officials Report 60 Legionnaires Cases as New Diagnoses Decline
The Manhattan Upper East Side outbreak has reached 60 confirmed Legionnaires’ disease cases, with hospitalizations decreasing and inspections of cooling towers ongoing.
Health officials said Tuesday that the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side has risen to 60 confirmed cases, but the rate of new diagnoses is slowing. City Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin noted that only two new cases were identified from samples taken on Sunday and Monday, compared with up to 11 per day earlier in the investigation.
The outbreak, first detected on July 2, has resulted in 49 hospitalizations, though 34 patients have already been discharged. No deaths have been reported in this cluster.
City inspectors have tested all 183 cooling towers in the affected area, finding about 75 with positive results on initial tests that do not differentiate live from dead bacteria. Buildings with positive findings include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, several private schools, and multiple residential towers on Park and Fifth Avenues. Most of the sites have completed required cleanups, which involve draining and disinfecting the towers, and the remaining ones are expected to finish by Thursday.
Council Speaker Julie Menin, a resident of the Upper East Side, criticized the health department’s response and announced plans for a council hearing to review the city’s handling of the outbreak and demand accountability.
Legionnaires’ disease, a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria that thrive in warm water systems, is treatable but carries a roughly 10% fatality rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.