NYC to Publish Cooling-Tower Addresses After 36 Upper East Side Legionnaires' Cases
Updated
Updated · WABC-TV · Jul 9
NYC to Publish Cooling-Tower Addresses After 36 Upper East Side Legionnaires' Cases
3 articles · Updated · WABC-TV · Jul 9
Summary
Thirty-six Legionnaires' cases are now tied to the Upper East Side outbreak, with 22 patients hospitalized, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city will release addresses of buildings where legionella is found in cooling towers.
Testing of Upper East Side cooling towers was due to finish by Wednesday's end, with a list of towers of interest expected by the end of the week; pinpointing the single outbreak source could still take weeks.
Health officials said the risk comes from contaminated outdoor mist in ZIP codes covering Carnegie Hill, Yorkville and Lenox Hill—not from building plumbing, tap water, home air conditioning or person-to-person spread.
Cases are expected to rise as testing continues, and officials urged people with fever, cough or shortness of breath to seek care; about 1 in 10 Legionnaires' patients can die, especially older adults, smokers and people with health issues.
The outbreak has grown from 28 cases reported Tuesday, and it follows last summer's Harlem outbreak, which infected more than 100 people and killed seven.