New York City health officials said Friday that the deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, killing seven people on the Upper East Side, is over.
Health Commissioner Alister Martin announced that the two-week incubation period for any new cases linked to this cluster had passed.
The first two confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease were discovered on July 2, and there have been 92 confirmed cases since – with 79 people hospitalized. Five people remain in the hospital, and seven people died.
“We understood back then, we did not have time to waste,” Martin said Friday morning at a press conference. “On July 2, we acted at the earliest indication of a potential cluster of Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side.”
MORE: Four UES Buildings With Live Legionella Were Out of Compliance With Testing Rules, Records Show
The health department said it’s continuing to investigate the source of exposure that started the outbreak. Most of the patients who tested positive for the disease experienced their first symptoms before July 7, the department added.
Legionella bacteria is usually found in rooftop water towers used in air conditioning systems and then spread through vapor wafting from the towers into the air. Since May, all building owners are required to test their cooling towers monthly and submit the results to the city.
The City Reporter found that four of the buildings whose addresses were identified by the health department as testing positive for the bacteria were not in compliance with this city law. The majority of the buildings, though, are in compliance.
Health department staff tested more than 180 cooling towers and then conducted more than 360 different tests on the samples to determine which buildings had the bacteria. Of those tested, 59 were positive.
The agency ordered 83 buildings to clean and disinfect their cooling towers.
Through their investigation, the health department also found that 300 E. 83rd St., a residential building, was not registered and the owners not developed the required maintenance program and plan to sample for Legionella for more than a year. They were given $11,000 in fines. The owner of the building, Lalezarian Properties LLC, declined to comment.
In mid-May, the health department discovered Legionella bacteria in the water system at the affordable housing complex Haven Plaza in the East Village. The tenants have since been unable to take showers on advice from the health department as they await the building management to sanitize the system.
On Thursday, a tenant leader criticized the long wait and said there was “no sense of urgency to actually resolve the problem.” Health officials said remediation work began this week, noting that clearing the bacteria from a water system is different from sanitizing a cooling tower.
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The post Upper East Side Legionnaires’ Outbreak is Quelled, Health Commissioner Says appeared first on The City Reporter.
