Legionnaires’ Cases Still Ticking Upward on Upper East Side

The Legionnaires’ outbreak plaguing the Upper East Side remains ongoing, with a total of 67 total cases as of July 16, with 12 people currently hospitalized.

Another 43 patients have been discharged from the hospital, with 12 cases resulting in no hospitalization—meaning that the majority of cases have resulted in hospitalization.

A total of 76 buildings—including the Met Museum and the Guggenheim—had tested positive for the bacterial disease as of July 14, officials said, representing a sharp increase from a tally of 31 that was reported just days earlier. All of these buildings were required to remediate the disease of July 16.

The NYC Health Department has told residents or tourists living in or visiting three ZIP codes (10028, 10128, and 10075) to monitor for symptoms of the disease, such as a cough or difficulty breathing; this roughly encompasses an area stretching from E. 74th Street to E. 96th Street, including the eastern end of Central Park.

Legionnaires’, a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, is not contagious and spreads via infected water vapor. It can pose a serious threat to people with certain health conditions, such as a history of smoking or lung disease, and has no cure. It can be treated with antibiotics if caught early, however.

Officials have focused on testing cooling towers, which sit on top of buildings and expel waste heat, in particular. The warm water caught by the tower can serve as an ideal breeding ground for Legionella, which then sprays outwards into the surrounding communities. The bacteria is supposed to be treated with biocides such as chlorine.

State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright, who represents the area, elaborated on the testing process in a July 15 newsletter sent to her constituents.

“Initial positive screening results do not necessarily confirm the presence of live Legionella bacteria capable of causing illness. The Health Department is conducting additional culture testing to determine which cooling towers contained live bacteria,” she wrote. “Buildings will be removed from the Department’s list as confirmatory testing results become available over the coming weeks.”

Indeed, Health Commissioner Alistair Martin has confirmed that narrowing down the source of the outbreak will involve testing that goes beyond mere PCR samples.

Seawright further noted that health officials have emphasized that it remains safe to drink tap water, shower, use air conditioners, and visit cooling centers throughout the affected area.

The sheer volume of Upper East Side buildings that have tested positive for Legionella bacteria, living or dead, has brought renewed attention to a new City Council law that is supposed to greatly strengthen the city’s Legionnaires’ testing regime.

The law, which went into effect in May, was passed after an outbreak of the disease in Harlem sickened 114 people last July—killing seven of them. Later reporting in Gothamist revealed that seven of the ten buildings later traced to the outbreak hadn’t been tested for over a year.

New reporting by the outlet has revealed that the testing regime had only been ramped up modestly before the latest Upper East Side outbreak, although the hiring of inspectors has picked up since last summer. Health officials have responded that the continued rollout of the law will still lead to a projected increase in testing.