The ongoing outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease on the Upper East Side wasn’t caused by a building’s decrepit drinking water system — but by water mist from a cooling tower erected to help New Yorkers beat the heat.
The city has installed 179 cooling towers across the zip codes impacted by the outbreak so far (10028, 10128 and 10075) where at least 23 people have been sickened so far, Council Speaker Julie Menin announced in a letter to residents Monday.
Menin said the cooling towers are in the process of being inspected, and that the outbreak was identified “relatively early” thanks to 56 cooling tower inspectors on duty – up from 33 last year, when seven people died during an outbreak in Central Harlem last summer.
Menin pointed to legislation passed by the City Council that took effect in May to toughen requirements for building owners to test cooling towers at least monthly during the warmer months, instead of the previous 90 days between inspections.
The law also requires samples provided by building owners to be logged in a DOHMH database within five days of sampling. Those who fail to comply are subject to fines between $2,000 and $4,000.
“I have many questions for DOHMH regarding implementation of the law since May 8. I’d like to know what portion of buildings on the Upper East Side required to test have actually done so, what oversight from the agency has looked like, and whether any buildings have received fines thus far,” Menin wrote.
DOHMH did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
According to the Department of Health website, Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks are relatively rare, with between 200-800 cases reported across New York State each year, and some 25,000 cases nationwide — most often in the summertime.
It’s a bacterial disease spread through the air, either from a soil or water source, that can manifest as a mild respiratory illness, cause full-blown pneumonia or even death in severe cases.
The department says all studies to date show that person-to-person transmission does not occur with Legionnaires’ disease, but notes that those at highest risk of infection are people aged 50 or older, current or former smokers, those with a chronic lung disease, a weak immune system or those taking drugs to suppress the immune system after a transplant or chemotherapy.
“If you live or work in or have visited ZIP codes 10028, 10128, and 10075 since late June and are experiencing flu-like symptoms, contact a healthcare provider immediately,” DOHMH posted on X Monday afternoon.
The incubation period for the disease is between two to 10 days, but usually five or six days. Early symptoms are similar to the flu, including muscle aches, headache, tiredness, and a dry cough combined with high fever (102-105 degrees Fahrenheit), chills and occasionally diarrhea.
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