
New York City Orders Tower Cleanings, Announces Prevention Measures in Addressing Legionnaires' Disease Cluster
In its second disease cluster this summer, city officials are cleaning building towers in the South Bronx amidst an ongoing investigation and are rolling out measures to prevent future Legionnaires' cases.
In the midst of New York City’s second Legionnaires’ disease cluster this summer, the city’s health department ordered 10 buildings’ cooling towers to be cleaned and disinfected. All 10 cooling towers are located in zip codes 10451 and 10456, which are in the South Bronx.1 Of note, the New York Yankees baseball stadium tower tested positive, and was drained and cleaned this past weekend.2 In a statement from the Yankees, the cooling towers were installed at the stadium in 2024 and have been tested weekly for water quality and bacteria since then. Those tests results are reported monthly to the city. The most recent testing on Aug. 20 was negative for Legionella bacteria.2
City officials said they were continuing their investigation into the South Bronx cluster of Legionnaires’ disease which as of September 12, 9 people have been diagnosed with the disease, 3 people are hospitalized, 4 have been discharged and one person did not require hospitalization. One person has died.1
The specific cooling towers that tested positive were ordered to be remediated by yesterday. City officials say it is safe to shower, drink tap water, and use air conditioners in the aforementioned zip codes unless otherwise advised. Additionally, they say there is no additional risk from being inside any of the 10 buildings found to have the Legionella bacteria.
Previous Upper East Side Cluster
Earlier this summer there was a cluster of cases in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As of August 31, there were 94 cases of Legionnaires’ disease associated with the cluster. No patients remain hospitalized, and 7 people have died.3
That cluster involved zip codes 10028, 10075, and 10128, and more than 90% of patients developed symptoms before July 7, just 5 days after the city’s health department launched its investigation and ordered buildings with positive screening tests to remediate their cooling towers.4
More than 260 Health Department staff members supported the response, interviewing and reviewing records for more than 150 potential cases, collecting samples from more than 180 cooling towers, and performing more than 360 different tests on the samples.4
The health department continues to investigate potential sources of exposure associated with the Upper East Side community cluster. Results from whole-genome sequencing analysis are expected this fall.3
The City’s New Prevention Measures
In light of the 2 disease clusters, city officials announced they are planning several new measures to strengthen education, enforcement and response to Legionella bacteria in cooling towers.3
The city’s measures include:
- Identifying potentially unregistered cooling towers by developing synergy between the Health Department and the Department of Buildings (DOB) in the City’s registration and tracking systems.
- Enhancing public visibility and transparency regarding cooling tower regulations by adding a mapping feature to the Health Department’s address-based cooling tower lookup tool.
- Exploring faster culture testing methods and novel testing approaches to decrease the amount of time it takes to test and confirm positive results.
- Accelerating enforcement of cooling tower violations by assigning the earliest Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) date that rules permit.
- Convening a scientific advisory panel to evaluate emerging cooling tower technology and alternative cooling systems.3
Symptoms and Treatment
Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of atypical pneumonia caused by the Legionella bacteria, and symptoms usually develop 2 to 14 days after exposure. Symptoms are similar to other types of pneumonia including cough, fever, headaches, muscle aches, shortness of breath. Other symptoms can include confusion, diarrhea, or nausea can also occur.5
The most common way for someone to get sick is by breathing in mist containing Legionella. Antibiotics are utilized for treatment, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers























































































































































