A second person has died in the Legionnaires’ disease cluster on the Upper East Side, health officials said, even as a slowdown in newly reported infections indicates the outbreak’s source has likely been removed.
“We are heartbroken to learn that another New Yorker has lost their life to Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side. Our deepest condolences are with their loved ones as they grieve,” NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister F. Martin said Saturday.
The additional death was reported just a day after city health officials confirmed the first fatality linked to the Manhattan neighborhood outbreak on Friday.
At least 72 people have been sickened in the latest Legionnaires’ disease outbreak to affect the city, with more than 50 requiring hospitalization.
As of Saturday night, nine patients remained hospitalized, officials said.
From July 10 through July 17, the city recorded an average of one new case per day, a steep drop from the first week of July, when officials said daily reports averaged more than eight new cases.
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All cases connected to the cluster have involved people who were on the Upper East Side, with the outbreak centered in the Carnegie Hill and Yorkville neighborhoods.
“While we mourn this loss, the data are also encouraging. Our aggressive strategy of testing, enforcement, and remediation appears to have stopped the source of exposure,” Martin said.
The disease, which stems from Legionella bacteria that has been found in 76 cooling towers across Upper East Side neighborhoods and one on the Upper West Side, is a deadly type of pneumonia that can be treated with antibiotics if caught early.
City officials ordered all buildings that returned positive screening results to clean and disinfect their systems as part of the investigation.
All required remediations were completed by July 16.
“We will continue inspecting every cooling tower that tested positive and will hold accountable any owner who fails to comply with our public health laws,” Martin added.
This year’s outbreak comes after over 250 cooling towers around the Big Apple were cited for issues relating to Legionella testing since last year — and more than half of those were in Manhattan.
Last year, there was an outbreak of the disease in Harlem that killed five people and sickened 114.
