NYC health department adds 50 Upper East Side buildings to Legionella-positive list
The New York City health department reported that more than a dozen additional Upper East Side buildings tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, bringing the total to 50 addresses, as officials continue monitoring the outbreak.
The New York City health department said on Wednesday that an additional 12 Upper East Side buildings have tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, raising the total number of affected sites to 50. The update follows a preliminary list released two days earlier that identified 33 cooling towers with positive results.
Officials cautioned that the expanded list does not pinpoint a specific source of the current cluster, and that further addresses may be added as testing continues. The city announced a fifth death linked to the outbreak earlier this week, and seven patients remained hospitalized as of Wednesday night.
To date, 84 residents in ZIP codes 10028, 10128 and 10075 have tested positive for Legionnaires' disease. Hospitalizations peaked on July 7, but new daily case counts have declined since July 15, with no new cases reported after that date. Of the 84 cases, 59 required hospitalization and have since been discharged, while 13 did not need hospital care.
The health department said the cooling towers that tested positive have been fully cleaned and that it will continue to update the public list of addresses on its website.