NYC health officials have released the addresses of seven buildings where cooling towers were confirmed to have live Legionella, the bacteria that causes the pneumonia-like disease that has killed at least two people in recent weeks.
to that deadly Legionnaires’ disease cluster in the Bronx, as they add a few more patients to the case count.
Yankee Stadium’s results, along with two other locations, tested positive in a PCR test, but confirmation awaits further testing. The Yankees, though, have said none of the cluster cases are linked to their stadium. Other addresses with tests pending are 234 E. 149th Street and 1085 Washington Avenue.
Culture testing confirmed live Legionella bacteria in seven cooling towers in the investigation zone:
567 Melrose Ave.
3339 Park Ave.
820 Concourse Village West
470 E. 161st St.
890 Washington Ave.
1160 Teller Ave.
1265 Franklin Ave.
All 10 of the implicated cooling towers, including those with results pending, have already been cleaned and disinfected.
As of Wednesday night, the city had recorded 23 cases in the cluster, up from 14 the week prior. Two people have died. Three are currently hospitalized, while more than a dozen have been discharged.
Over the summer, 11 people died in a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on the Upper East Side. The agency said 59 cooling towers at 58 buildings had live Legionella bacteria. All those towers were cleaned and disinfected.
Last summer, seven died in an outbreak in Harlem and sickened dozens of others.
Legionnaires’ disease is treatable but kills about 10% of patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water and can spread in such places as hot tubs and building cooling equipment.
People may contract the disease by inhaling contaminated water droplets, but it doesn’t spread person to person.