The Upper East Side’s Legionnaires’ outbreak has claimed a fifth life, the city’s Health Department confirmed Tuesday evening, deepening one of the most serious clusters of the disease the neighborhood has seen in years.
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As of Tuesday, the department had logged 82 cases tied to the outbreak — up sharply from the 76 reported on Monday — according to figures on its website. Fifty-six people have been treated and discharged from the hospital.The deaths have mounted on a grim, near-daily cadence. The first was announced Friday, followed by a second Saturday, a third Sunday, a fourth Monday and now the fifth on Tuesday.
The cluster has been concentrated in Carnegie Hill, Yorkville and Lenox Hill, spanning ZIP codes 10075, 10028 and 10128. Earlier in the week, health officials said confirmatory testing had found live Legionella bacteria in 34 cooling towers across 33 buildings in the area — the rooftop water-cooling systems that can spread the bacteria through mist when they are not properly maintained.
As the toll has grown, so has the political pressure. Local elected officials, including City Council Speaker Julie Menin, whose district covers the Upper East Side, have begun pressing the city on the speed and adequacy of its response.
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by breathing in mist or vapor containing Legionella bacteria. It does not spread from person to person, and most healthy people exposed to it do not get sick — but the risk climbs for people over 50, smokers and those with weakened immune systems or chronic lung conditions. Symptoms typically include fever, cough, chills, muscle aches and shortness of breath, and can appear up to two weeks after exposure.
Health officials have urged anyone in the affected area experiencing flu-like symptoms to seek medical care promptly, noting that the illness is treatable with antibiotics when caught early. The department has said it is continuing to remediate the affected cooling towers and investigate the source.
See our previous coverage here.
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