NYC health officials hold town hall on deadly Legionnaires' disease cluster

The New York City Department of Health held a town hall Tuesday night on the deadly Legionnaires' disease cluster in the Bronx.

Neighbors who live and work in the affected neighborhoods packed the hour-long meeting at Metropolitan College in Mott Haven, and heard directly from health officials. Things got tense at times as residents demanded answers to their questions.

"A lot of people don't know what's going on with this Legionnaires' disease. It's pretty serious," one person said.

Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin made a few things clear, including the fact that all 10 of the impacted cooling towers have been cleaned and disinfected, and continuous testing and investigations will continue. He spoke about the challenges of battling Legionnaires' disease outbreaks.

"Now, our layer of defense is to go in and make sure what needs to be happening is actually happening," Martin said, "The main challenge with more inspections is that this is a bacteria that you can do an inspection on a Monday [and] three weeks later, you have bacteria. It's fast growing, fast moving. That's why we don't just rely on inspections."

The cluster is centered in the Morrisania and Melrose sections of the borough, where 10 cooling towers had to be cleaned and disinfected by the end of the day Monday. Now, the investigation is turning to whether any of the towers in question will actually be linked to the cluster.

So far, 11 people have tested positive for the disease. One person has died, and three remain hospitalized.

The cooling towers with positive PCR results are located at:

• 820 Concourse Village West
• 234 E. 149th St.
• 1 E. 161st St.
• 470 E. 161st St.
• 1265 Franklin Ave.
• 567 Melrose Ave.
• 3339 Park Ave.
• 1160 Teller Ave.
• 890 Washington Ave.
• 1085 Washington Ave.

Legionnaires' disease is spread by breathing in mist containing the bacteria but is not contagious. Symptoms include cough, fever, shortness of breath, muscle aches, headaches, fatigue, confusion, and gastrointestinal issues.  

Obvious concerns over Bronx Legionnaires' disease cluster

One of the cooling towers is at Yankee Stadium. It was cleaned and disinfected as of Sunday.

The initial test of the cooling towers at Yankee Stadium shows the presence of Legionella DNA, but does not determine whether that bacteria was alive or dead.

"Only live Legionella bacteria can cause illness. No current cases have been associated with Yankee Stadium," part of a statement from a spokesperson read.

The spokesperson said health officials have not asked the Yankees to postpone any games, and they are continuing testing.

"We're working to identify all the data with regard to the history of the monthly compliance with those cooling towers," Martin said earlier in the day.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson also addressed concerns.

"These are a stadium, hospital, shelters for single adult men, colleges. These are locations where a lot of people travel," Gibson said. "It happens every year and, unfortunately, there's no way to necessarily prevent it, other than making sure all cooling towers are disinfected, cleaned thoroughly every 30 days."

The South Bronx was the epicenter of the city's deadliest outbreak on record, when 16 people died in 2015. City cooling tower regulations were passed shortly after.

"We've been working really closely with health department, health officials, a lot of information sharing on social media, emails within our own network, really letting people know what Legionnaires is," Gibson said.

The health department is urging anyone who lives in the Bronx community cluster or has visited the area since August and is experiencing flu-like symptoms to seek medical attention immediately.

"It's safe to use your AC, drinking water, tap water, shave and bath. None of that is affected," Gibson said.

"It's alarming and hopefully the city will do something about it"

For residents, the cleanup doesn't erase the concern. Some have said they want to know how this happened, and what's being done to keep it from taking place again.

"It's alarming and hopefully the city will do something about it," South Bronx resident Pap Diop said. "I don't really know how to protect myself. If I happen to live in a building, I would like to get more education about it."

"Anything could be in those water towers, and I think the city should try and become more proactive about making sure stuff doesn't just get found in them," resident Mike Smith said.

"It's hard for all of us to deal with this," one woman said. "I just would want to know the causes so that we can deal with this as a community."