City says government buildings among sources of Legionnaires’ outbreak that killed 4

A fourth person has died in the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Central Harlem, while the number of those stricken with the severe pneumonia increased to 99, up from 90 earlier in the week, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reported Thursday.

The new tallies came hours after city officials disclosed that several buildings housing government programs are among those where water-cooling towers have tested positive for Legionella, the bacteria that causes the disease, amid an investigation into the source of the disease outbreak in Central Harlem.

That includes CUNY City College’s Marshak Science Building at 181 Convent Ave., the NYC Economic Development Corp. at 40 West 137th St., and the city health department’s Central Harlem Sexual Health Clinic at 2238 Fifth Ave.

Among the 10 buildings identified by the health department, all but one had cooling towers that were either behind on required Legionella testing or had not been inspected by the city in the past year, according to a Gothamist analysis of city data.

By law, building owners are required to test for the presence of Legionella bacteria every three months. While the city is not required to regularly inspect cooling towers, health department spokesperson Chantal Gomez said the agency aims to inspect every tower annually. She added that staff shortages have made that difficult in recent years, but the agency is continuing to recruit inspectors.

Harlem Hospital, a city-run medical center where many Legionnaires’ patients in the current outbreak have been treated, also tested positive.

City officials said they are still working to confirm which specific cooling tower caused the current outbreak.

Legionella bacteria can grow in buildings’ water-cooling towers and then get spewed into the air with the mist the towers emit. If it’s inhaled, Legionella can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia.

The city previously said 11 cooling towers in the area had tested positive for Legionella through an initial screening process, but declined to share their addresses at the time. City officials said they have now completed a more rigorous form of testing and found 12 cooling towers that tested positive. All but one have already undergone remediation and the final one will undergo remediation by tomorrow, city officials said.

The number of new cases of Legionnaires’ being reported has begun to decline, suggesting that the bacteria’s source has been contained, acting city Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse said at a press conference on the outbreak at Harlem Hospital Thursday.

“I want to assure everyone the air is safe to breathe,” Mayor Eric Adams said at the press conference, held hours before the fourth death was announced. “I know the Central Harlem community and so many New Yorkers are anxious.”

In recent weeks, the city has advised people who live and work in the ZIP codes affected by the outbreak (10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 and 10039) to seek medical attention immediately if they experience symptoms associated with Legionnaires’, including cough, trouble breathing, fever, chills or muscle aches. Legionnaires’ can be treated effectively with antibiotics if it’s caught early, city health officials say.

Morse said she and other city health workers have been busy spreading the word about Legionnaires’ to keep people safe.

But some Harlem residents criticized the city for not previously releasing the addresses of the water-cooling towers that initially screened positive for Legionella.

Morse defended the move on WNYC earlier this week, saying, “The reason we have yet to release the building locations, again, is because of this concern that we’d be giving people a false sense of security before our investigation is really fully complete.”

At the time, Morse said that because Legionella can travel through the air, everyone in the five affected ZIP codes should be vigilant about Legionnaires’ symptoms, regardless of whether they live near the buildings that tested positive.

State Sen. Cordell Cleare, a Harlem Democrat, said she plans to push for new state legislation to improve cooling tower regulations.

“As much as we’ve responded to this, three lives is too many,” Cleare said. “Our communities cannot continue to serve as the canary in the coal mine.”

A Gothamist analysis of public data found that city inspections have dropped off significantly since they started in 2017. But responsibility for keeping towers clean also lies with building owners. ​​About 75% of all cooling towers in the ZIP codes affected by the current outbreak have up-to-date reporting on their Legionella testing as of early August, compared with 73% citywide, Gothamist found.

Arya Sundaram contributed to his article.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.