CDC investigates outbreak of Legionnaires in New York

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.

NEW YORK:The death toll has risen to 10 in New York’s record outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, out of a total of 101 people diagnosed with the form of pneumonia, authorities said Friday. This is the first case in the area outside New York City cluster in which more than 100 people are infected and 10 dead.

Governor Andrew Cuomo today dispatched approximately 150 trained officials and support staff in the Bronx to facilitate widespread testing for Legionella bacteria in water tower cooling systems.

According to Dr. Mary Bassett, commissioner of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, “We want to be confident that every cooling tower in this city is clean”. They are offering free testing for building owners.

Anybody who is experiencing cough, chills, fever and muscle aches are advised to seek medical attention, as advised by the New York Department of Health. However, between 5 to 30 percent of people die. He said any individual who claimed or dealt with a building with a cooling tower would be obliged to test and purify it, or danger being accused of an offense for neglecting to agree to the necessity.

“In this, the city will be taking a lead for the nation”, she said.

Older people, those with weakened immune systems or with chronic lung diseases and smokers are more likely to develop the infection. (None are related to the current outbreak in the Bronx.) That’s on track with previous years: There were 199 cases last year, 241 cases in 2013 and 173 in 2012.

The illness gets its name from a 1976 outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia when 34 people died.

The mayor said the outbreak is tapering and no new cases have been reported in the last four days.

Legionnaires’ disease is caused by Legionnella bacteria, and it’s easily treated with antibiotics.

The city is working to have all of the remaining buildings in the area inspected and disinfected within the next 24 hours, de Blasio said. Symptoms of the disease also include headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, confusion and diarrhea.