Fourth death linked to Harlem Legionnaires' outbreak; NYC identifies impacted cooling towers
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- New York City officials announced another death on Thursday in connection to the Legionnaires' outbreak in Harlem, just hours after identifying 12 cooling towers in 10 Harlem buildings that tested positive for the disease.
The update comes weeks after the start of the outbreak that has now resulted in 99 cases and four deaths.. Officials say 17 people remain hospitalized.
City health officials have linked the outbreak to cooling towers, structures containing water and a fan that are used to cool buildings. Health officials say you can get the disease by breathing in water vapor that has Legionella bacteria, which grows in warm water.
RELATED | What to know about Legionnaires' disease
For the first time since the outbreak started, city officials identified which buildings are connected to the outbreak -- and Mayor Eric Adams revealed that one of the buildings is Harlem Hospital.
The cooling towers are located at:
- BRP Companies, Lafayette Development LLC, 2239 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard
- BVK, 215 West 125th Street
- Commonwealth Local Development, 301 West 124th Street
- CUNY - City College Marshak Science Building, 181 Convent Avenue
- Harlem Center Condo, 317 Lenox Avenue
- NYC Economic Development Corporation, 40 West 137th Street
- NYC Health Department Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic, 2238 Fifth Avenue
- NYC Health + Hospitals Harlem Hospital, 506 Lenox Avenue
- The New York Hotel Trades Council Harlem Health Center, 133 Morningside Avenue
- Wharton Properties, 100 West 125th Street (3 of 8 towers)
Several buildings, like the one on Morningside Avenue, contain medical offices. Others are massive retail locations. Three of eight towers in one building on 125th Street and Lenox Avenue, which houses a Whole Foods and other stores, tested positive.
Some locations are city-owned, and on Thursday, the Health Department defended its cooling tower inspection schedule, pointing out that some locations have previously tested negative.
"The testing is important, and the maintenance is important, but even that rigorous schedule, there are still possibilities that bacteria can grow because of the conditions in warm weather," said Acting New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse.
Health officials say 11 of the 12 cooling towers have completed remediation. The final remediation is required to be completed on Friday.
Adams drank water, and breathed in the air at Harlem Hospital while delivering the update.
"Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by this cluster of Legionnaires, in particulate the friends and loved ones of the three New Yorkers we lost to this disease," Adams said. "As of today, 11 of the 12 cooling towers in Central Harlem that tested positive for Legionella bacteria have completed remediation, and by tomorrow, all towers will have completed remediations. New Yorkers should know the air is safe to breathe, and we are seeing declining numbers of new cases each day. I want to thank the health workers who worked tirelessly to treat this community and make sure its residents are healthy. We will continue to share updates, and we encourage anyone with flu-like symptoms to seek medical help immediately."
A town hall discussion was held at Mt. Zion AME Church on Madison Avenue Thursday night, to provide the Harlem community with more information on Legionnaires'. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, local elected officials and medical experts were all in attendance for the discussion.
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