Death Toll Climbs to Nine from UES Legionnaire’s Outbreak
The deceased had been hospitalized with cases contracted during last month’s outbreak, which technically stopped on July 17. Nine people in total have been killed.
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| 18 Aug 2026 | 05:48
The outbreak, which infected more than 90 people, was concentrated within three ZIP codes that roughly encompass the Carnegie Hill and Yorkville neighborhoods. (
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Two more people hospitalized in connection with a UES Legionnaires’ outbreak last month have now died, bringing the total death toll to nine. The outbreak itself, however, was eliminated weeks ago. (
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Two more people hospitalized in connection with a Legionnaires’ outbreak that tore through the Upper East Side last month have died, even as the spread of the disease was declared contained weeks ago, the NYC Department of Health has announced.
A total of nine people have now lost their lives due to the outbreak as of August 14, while one person remained hospitalized. No new cases have been reported after July 17, with the outbreak being formally recognized as over on July 30, two weeks later. Five people still remained hospitalized at that time.
“I’m saddened to share that 2 more people have died in connection with the UES Legionnaires’ disease cluster. We mourn each loss, and our hearts are with their loved ones. These cases were diagnosed weeks ago, and the source has been eliminated,” NYC Health Commissioner Alistair Martin wrote in a statement.
More than 90 people contracted the disease during the outbreak, with over 160 buildings and 183 cooling towers being tested for the disease; 59 of these towers tested positive. Local residents and tourists were told to monitor for symptoms if they lived in, or visited, three different ZIP codes in the Carnegie Hill and Yorkville neighborhoods—including an eastern stretch of Central Park.
Legionnaires’, a form of pneumonia that spreads via aerosols containing Legionella bacteria, can be found in the basins of these towers if they are not tested and chemically treated on a regular basis. It is not contagious, although it poses a serious risk to people with severe lung-disease or a history of smoking.
Last month, the widow of an 88-year-old Air Force veteran killed during the outbreak said that she was working on filing suit over her husband’s death, with her lawyer clarifying that they were in the midst of determining whether a nearby building owner had been negligent in monitoring for the disease.
The outbreak also elicited political wrangling, as City Council Speaker and Upper East Side representative Julie Menin criticized City Hall and the Health Department over their response to the situation. State Senator Liz Krueger, who also represents the area, came to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s defense.
Then, on August 12, Council Member Virginia Maloney—another East Side rep.—introduced two bills that she believes will lessen the impact of any future Legionnaires’ outbreak. “Those numbers demand action,” she said in a statement. “We cannot wait for another tragedy to ask what more we could have done.”
The first bill would require owners of cooling towers to conduct three Legionnaires’ tests per year, with one test specifically required during the summertime, when Legionella growth is more likely. The second would task the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) with conducting a public awareness campaign on the disease, which many New Yorkers may still be unaware of.
Two days after Maloney’s rollout of the bills, the Health Department made its announcement that the death toll related to July’s outbreak had ticked upwards. In response, Maloney wrote online that “our community continues to mourn each life taken too soon.”