Inmate at Rikers Island tests positive for Legionnaires disease; city says no

An inmate at New York City’s Rikers Island jail is the latest patient to be diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, but health officials say the case is not believed to be related to the South Bronx outbreak that has killed 12 people and sickened 115. It’s easily diagnosed and treated with antibiotics.

Officials said earlier this week that the Legionnaires’ outbreak centered in the South Bronx – the worst in the city’s history – appeared to be waning, with no new cases emerging in recent days.

Glenn Isaacs, vice president of the Empire Hotel Group, in a statement, said his establishment was caught in “some game of one-upmanship between city and state officials” – a nod to the political rivalry between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Test results expected Wednesday will show whether the hotel’s cooling tower is the flare-up’s origin point, Isaacs said.

Correction officials, City Hall spokeswoman Monica Klein said, have consulted with the Department of Health “and taken precautions to minimize the risks associated with this form of bacteria”. City officials said it’s unclear right now how he got the disease.

The city was offering testing to all staff and inmates of the facility where the sick inmate was being housed, according to a source.

“The problem is that the Health Department has been slow in sharing information with the DOC – when for obvious reasons, the presence of Legionnaires’ disease in a correctional facility is a ticking time-bomb”, Seabrook said.

Their offices will craft legislation to mandate the regulations and timing of mandatory inspection of cooling towers, which can harbor the Legionella bacteria. “The city is falling short”.