New York Reports Two More Deaths from Legionnaires’ Disease

The New York City health department on Thursday had ode red that within a per sod of 14 days all possible buildings and cooling towers will be tested for the bacteria and if any found, it will be immediately decontaminated.

The outbreak appears to have peaked with no new cases diagnosed over the last four days, but the inspection and cleaning of cooling towers will continue as the city battles the Legionella bacteria, which thrive in warm water, de Blasio said. James Keivom/New York Daily News It is believed the hotel’s cooling towers contributed to the outbreak of the disease, which can be contracted when people inhale mists from contaminated bacteria in the water source.

Unless you live in New York City, the recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease may have escaped your notice.

Through the month of October, building managers and building landlords will be provided with the free Legionella examination by the state Department of Health, said Governor Andrew Cuomo, who also asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to set an advisory team for New York.

An estimated 8,000 to 18,000 hospitalized cases of Legionaires’ disease occurs each year in the United States.

Sufferers can also experience fatigue, a loss of appetite, confusion, diarrhoea and headaches. Remediation was completed at each of the locations, all in the South Bronx.

In addition to analyzing the increasing number of cases of the disease, researchers at Emory University reviewed national care standards, preparedness for handling and outbreaks, and guidance for preventing them, finding them significantly lacking in many ways.

Later in the press conference, NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said that this was the worst outbreak of Legionnaires’ in the city’s history.

Epidemiologists at the state’s Wadsworth Center laboratories will test Legionella samples from patients and cooling towers to assess patterns in the outbreak, Zucker said. The seven victims were older adults with weakened immune systems due to additional underlying medical problems, a demographic that were at high risk of the flu-like disease.

Legionnaires’ disease – so named after the first identified cases at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia in 1976 – is a treatable bacterial pneumonia. State officials have said they’ll pay for the testing.

Death toll from Legionnaires’ disease have increased to eight, the New York City officials reported on August 5, reported cases increased, now it’s 97.