3 dead in Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease cluster, NYC health officials say
For the third day in a row, the New York City Health Department has announced a death in the Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease cluster.
Health officials say three people have died in connection with the outbreak.
"Our hearts are with their family and friends as they mourn their loss. Out of respect for their personal privacy, we will not be releasing any additional information about their passing," Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said in a statement, in part.
The first two deaths were reported on Friday and Saturday.
Air Force veteran dies from disease
As of Sunday, a total of 74 Legionnaires' disease cases have been connected to the cluster, health officials say. Of those 74 patients, three have died, eight are currently hospitalized, 51 have been discharged from the hospital, and 12 did not need to be hospitalized.
One of the patients was an 88-year-old Air Force veteran and retired businessman from Yorkville.
His attorney said he was hospitalized on July 2 with a sudden high fever before passing away July 17. The lawyer said he is planning to sue building owners for negligence, alleging unclean cooling towers are to blame.
Remediation efforts are working, city officials say
"While we continue to investigate cases and closely monitor those in the hospital, we have not identified anyone with new symptoms for more than a week, and we are not seeing any concerning trends in emergency department surveillance data," Martin said in a statement, in part.
Health officials believe the source of the outbreak – suspected to be water vapor containing live Legionella bacteria from a cooling tower in the area of the 10028, 10075 and 10128 ZIP codes – has been eliminated after they ordered 76 buildings that tested positive for the bacteria to undergo precautionary cleaning.
"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 said in a statement, in part.
Anyone who develops flu-like symptoms after spending time in the impacted area is encouraged to seek medical care.
For more information on Legionnaires' disease, including symptoms and prevention, visit the health department's website.
