The New York City Department of Health says it has identified the cooling towers that may be linked to the deadly Legionnaires’ community cluster in the South Bronx.<\/p>\n
Seven of the 10 cooling towers initially identified in the outbreak have tested positive for live Legionella, according to officials. One cooling tower that returned a positive test is BronxCare’s Martin Luther King Jr. Health Center<\/a>, located at 1265 Franklin Ave.<\/p>\n A second notable location that tested positive for live Legionella is 820 Concourse Village West, an office building that houses the Social Security Administration.<\/p>\n As of Thursday, 23 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease. Two of those people have died<\/a> and three remain hospitalized.<\/p>\n Health officials first announced the community cluster on Sept. 10. It initially included zip codes 10451 and 10456. Two additional zip codes<\/a>, 10455 and 10459, were linked to the outbreak on Sunday.<\/p>\n Three days later, the Department of Health released the locations of the 10 towers that returned a positive PCR test<\/a>, meaning growing Legionella was present at the time of testing.<\/p>\n The actual presence of live Legionella is confirmed through a culture test. Only the living form of the bacteria can cause Legionnaires’ disease.<\/p>\n Health officials say all seven towers with live Legionella were cleaned and disinfected early last week, following the positive PCR tests.<\/p>\n Officials say the culture tests for the three remaining cooling towers, including Yankee Stadium and Lincoln Hospital, are pending.<\/p>\n