Legionnaires’ outbreak officially over, source of virus identified as Opera

After weeks of bickering between city and state officials about how to address New York City’s unprecedented Legionnaires’ disease outbreak, the source of the disease has reportedly been located – and the outbreak declared “over” for good.

“We eliminated the danger posed by the Opera House Hotel’s cooling tower as soon as it tested positive for disease-causing Legionella“, said New York City Health Commissioner Mary Bassett. The new legislation will regulate cooling towers.

No new cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported in NYC since August. 3.

“The outbreak is over”, Bassett said, noting the maximum incubation period has passed since the last new report of someone coming down with symptoms.

The latest Legionnaires’ outbreak, which was discovered in July, has been the worst the city has ever experienced. Legionnaires’ is an extreme type of pneumonia brought on when a man breathes in the legionella microscopic organisms. Twelve patients have died, and more than 100 others were sickened.

The new code includes Definition and Registration: Any owner of a building with an existing cooling tower must register the tower with the state DOH within the next 30 days. A widespread and mandatory cooling tower testing effort found 14 cooling towers testing positive for Legionella bacteria within that zone. In addition to registration, all actions required by the new regulations must be reported to the electronic system within 10 days of such actions being taken. People with Legionnaires’ also experience appetite loss, confusion, fatigue and muscle aches. But it’s unclear whether every patient walked right by the hotel; mist can travel up to a mile, under some conditions, officials said.

The Opera House Hotel was one of five initial sites that the city had identified as being infected with legionella, along with Lincoln Hospital, Streamline Plastic Co., the Concourse Plaza complex and a Verizon office building. It’s in the heart of the South Bronx.

“Cooling towers have been implicated in several outbreaks of Legionnaire’s Disease in recent years”, said state Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, M.D.

A representative for the hotel didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. The hotel issued a statement after Thursday’s briefing.