One of 10 South Bronx cooling towers that have tested positive for Legionella bacteria is located at Yankee Stadium, officials with the New York City Health Department announced Sunday. Each of the towers has been ordered to be cleaned and disinfected by Sept. 14, as an investigation continues into the borough’s recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.
“To reduce the risk of ongoing exposure while culture testing continues, the Health Department is requiring cooling towers with a positive PCR (polymerase chain reaction) result to conduct a full remediation, including draining, cleaning, and disinfection,” health officials said in a news release.
The department said it’s unknown whether any of the towers that tested positive contributed to the outbreak. PCR tests can detect Legionella bacteria DNA but cannot determine whether the bacteria are alive or dead, according to the news release, and only live bacteria can cause the illness.
Health officials are conducting culture testing to determine whether live Legionella bacteria were present at the 10 towers. Culture results can take up to two weeks, the department said.
The Yankees confirmed in a statement Sunday night that “trace amounts” of Legionella bacteria were found in their cooling tower through PCR testing, which differs from the testing Yankee Stadium regularly undertakes. The club said a full remediation of the tower was completed Sunday morning.
“In 2024, the Yankees installed new, state-of-the-art, high-efficiency chiller towers at Yankee Stadium, which have undergone water quality and bacteriological indicator testing on a weekly basis over the last three years.
“In accordance with New York City Department of Health regulations, Yankee Stadium provides these results to the (department) on a monthly basis. In the most recent monthly testing on Aug. 20, which was provided to the Department of Health, results were negative for Legionella bacteria. Subsequent to that test, weekly water quality and bacteriological indicator testing was performed on Aug. 26, Sept. 2 and Sept. 9.
“Due to the recent community cluster of Legionella bacteria in the Melrose and Morrisania areas of the Bronx (zip codes 10451 and 10456) last week, the (department) conducted 24 PCR tests of cooling towers in the area, including one at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 11.”
It was not immediately known where the tower — which is situated at 1 E. 161st St., the same address as Yankee Stadium — was specifically located.
On Sunday, the New York Yankees hosted the New York Mets, concluding a six-game homestand that began last Tuesday. Health officials launched an investigation Thursday after identifying a cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases in the South Bronx.
“Anyone who lives, works, or has visited the area since late August and develops flu-like symptoms should contact a health care provider immediately,” the release cautioned.
The club’s statement said that “no current cases have been associated with Yankee Stadium” and that the Health Department had not, “at any point this month, asked us to postpone our games.”
The CDC defines Legionnaires’ disease “as a type of serious pneumonia caused by a type of bacteria called Legionella.” Its symptoms typically develop within two to 14 days of exposure to the bacteria, with ailments similar to those of pneumonia, including coughing and shortness of breath.
Most cases can be treated successfully.
Cooling towers, which release mist into the air, have been linked to past outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease, according to health officials.
Sunday’s news follows a recent outbreak in the borough that has killed one person and infected nine others. The outbreak comes after a separate incident over the summer in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. That outbreak, which was declared over in July, claimed the lives of 11 people, with more than 90 experiencing infection.