July 7 (UPI) — An outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York City’s Upper East Side has sickened nearly two dozen people, officials said Tuesday, as they continue to investigate the cluster.
The community cluster has been identified in the neighborhoods of Carnegie Hill and Yorkville. The NYC Health Department said in a statement that there have been 23 cases of the disease, including 17 hospitalizations, since July 6.
The count is also an increase from 14 cases reported on Sunday. The cluster was first made public July 2 after two people were diagnosed with the disease.
City health officials are urging New Yorkers and those who have visited the areas since late June and are experiencing flu-like symptoms to contact a healthcare provider immediately.
“More than 100 NYC Health Department staff members have worked nonstop since the start of this cluster as we take aggressive action to ensure that we are cutting off the source of exposure as quickly as possible,” Dr. Alister Martin, NYC health commissioner, said in a statement.
Legionnaires’ disease is a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water. Those who inhale water vapor that contains the bacteria can get sick with the disease, which causes flu-like symptoms. Most people exposed to the bacteria do not develop the disease. However, among those who do contract it, complications can be fatal.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaires’ disease each year in the United States.
All cooling towers in the affected area are being sampled and tested at the city’s public health lab in order to locate the source, NYC Comptroller Mark Levine said, but warned that “it unfortunately takes several weeks for cultures to grow.”
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said that the issue is not with any building’s plumbing or indoor air conditioning and residents of the two neighborhoods are safe to drink tap water, bathe, shower and cook.
“The collection of water samples, laboratory testing and community outreach has been ongoing through the Fourth of July holiday weekend,” he said in an online statement.