Cooling towers blamed for Legionnaires’ Disease at San Quentin State

The outbreak, believed to be the worst in the city’s history, stemmed from vapor released from a contaminated cooling tower atop the Opera House Hotel.

The city’s Department of Health hosted a town hall meeting at Maestros Caterers in Morris Park to discuss the recent cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the neighborhood.

“The uplifting news is that, dissimilar to previously, we really have an idea about where these cooling towers are, and they’ve gotten the sort of cleaning they require”, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a radio meeting on Thursday on the John Gambling Show on WNYM-AM (970).

All three undetected cases were hospitalized before the cluster was identified and one patient has since been discharged from the hospital, DOHMH said.

The health department notified the CDC on Monday, September 28, and has issued a health alert to health care providers in the area.

In the cooling tower sampling, 15 tested positive for the bacterium and were ordered to be disinfected.

As New York City battles another deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, facilities with cooling towers across the city are ramping up cleaning and maintenance. He urged residents who may feel ill to seek medical attention since Legionnaires’ disease, a form of pneumonia, is very treatable if caught in time.

Jeremy Warneke, CB 11 district manager, noted the 10461 area encompasses the eastern portion of Morris Park, Pelham Bay, Waterbury-LaSalle, Westchester Square and Pelham Parkway.

A scanning electron micrograph (SEM) image of Legionella bacteria.

After a flare-up of the ailment slaughtered 12 individuals in July and August in the South Bronx, the city required each building with cooling towers, a typical wellspring of the Legionella microscopic organisms that cause the sickness, to be cleaned inside of two weeks.

The towers have since been cleaned and the 163-year-old prison north of San Francisco is back to normal.

In addition to the elderly, people with chronic lung disease and weakened immune systems are also often at risk for the disease, which is spread through bacteria.

Legionnaires’ can be treated with antibiotics and in most cases, patients get better with early treatment, but may need to undergo hospitalization.