Legionnaires’ disease cluster found in Harlem, NYC Health says
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Free treatment offered in Bronx for Legionnaire’s disease
There have been 13 cases in the Morris Park neighborhood, all with onset dates before September 21. ProHealth Urgent Care at 1049 Morris Park Ave. will start offering evaluations and treatment Friday. Senior citizens and uninsured residents who live within the 10461 or 10462 zip codes can walk in if they have Legionnaires’ symptoms. Co-pays will be waived.
MORRIS PARK, N.Y. (WABC) — An Urgent Care office is offering treatment for Legionnaire’s disease in the Bronx.
One death is now associated with the latest newly discovered cluster of Legionnaires’ disease cases in the Bronx.
There have been 13 cases in the Morris Park neighborhood, all with onset dates before September 21. Authorities announced the death Wednesday. Eleven individuals remain hospitalized, while one has been discharged, and all patients had underlying health conditions.
ProHealth Urgent Care at 1049 Morris Park Ave. will start offering evaluations and treatment Friday to seniors and uninsured residents. The service will be offered through Oct. 11. Senior citizens and uninsured residents who live within the 10461 or 10462 zip codes can walk in if they have Legionnaires’ symptoms. Co-pays will be waived.
State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) and Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj (D-Bronx) announced the service as part of a partnership with ProHealth Urgent Care in Morris Park.
Legionella is ubiquitous in the environment, and there are typically 200 to 300 cases per year in New York City. Legionnaires’ disease is very treatable with antibiotics, and the disease cannot be spread from person to person. Groups at high risk include people who are middle-aged or older, especially cigarette smokers, people with chronic lung disease or weakened immune systems. The city’s drinking water remains unaffected.
This outbreak comes a little more than a month after the city identified the source of another Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in South Bronx and declared that outbreak as being resolved. Officials do not believe the new outbreak is connected with the last one. They added that residents should be vigilant and get treated if they develop symptoms.
Legionnaires’ disease cluster investigated in Washington Heights
Eight people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in the last seven days. The cases are all from the same 20-block area. There have been no deaths associated with this cluster. Health officials are testing water from all cooling tower systems in the area of the cluster. The Health Department will hold a community meeting at Saint Luke’s AME, 1872 Amsterdam Ave on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. The elderly are at highest risk and it is potentially fatal, but it can be effectively treated with an early diagnosis, officials say.
N.J. Burkett has more on the cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Lower Washington Heights.
N.J. Burkett has more on the cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Lower Washington Heights.
N.J. Burkett has more on the cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Lower Washington Heights.
N.J. Burkett has more on the cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Lower Washington Heights.
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, Manhattan (WABC) — The New York City Health Department is investigating a community cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Lower Washington Heights.
Eight people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in the last seven days. The cases are all from the same 20-block area.
All but one has been hospitalized and one has been discharged. Ages of the individuals range from under 40 to over 80, but most were ages 50 and above. There have been no deaths associated with this cluster.
RELATED: FACTS: What is Legionnaires’ disease?
Legionnaires’ is a form of bacterial pneumonia. The elderly are at highest risk and it is potentially fatal, but it can be effectively treated with an early diagnosis.
People get Legionnaires’ disease by breathing in water vapor that contains bacteria. Health officials are testing water from all cooling tower systems in the area of the cluster.
Adults with flu-like symptoms, cough, fever or difficulty breathing should contact a physician immediately.
“While most people exposed to Legionella don’t get sick, individuals ages 50 and above, especially those who smoke and have chronic lung conditions, are at a higher risk,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. “This disease is very treatable with antibiotics. I encourage anyone with symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease to seek care early.”
The Health Department will hold a community meeting at Saint Luke’s AME, 1872 Amsterdam Ave on Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m.
Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused by the bacteria Legionella, which grows in warm water. Symptoms resemble other types of pneumonia and can include fever, chills, muscle aches, and cough. Most cases of Legionnaires’ disease can be traced to plumbing systems where conditions are favorable for Legionella growth, such as cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks, and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems.
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Legionnaires’ Disease Kills NYCHA Resident, Puts Brooklyn Public Housing Complex on Alert
The resident of the Langston Hughes Houses in Brownsville contracted the disease and died in July. The water is now the subject of ongoing testing and vulnerable residents, including people over age 50, have been advised not to take showers. Residents were also advised to run the tap at a trickle while washing dishes in the sink, and to contact a doctor if they experience symptoms that include fever, chills, muscle aches or a cough.Legionella is not an issue in drinking water, but it can be transmitted via water vapor caused by steadily running water that occurs during showers or while filling up a tub or sink. The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is monitoring the testing and disinfecting that NYCHA is supervising there. The results of NYCHA’s testing are expected in two weeks, and the results of DOHMH’s testing are also expected in the next two weeks. The resident association president for the development said city officials warned residents it could take weeks or months for the building to be cleared for showers.
The resident of the Langston Hughes Houses in Brownsville contracted the disease and died in July, according to the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), which is now monitoring the testing and disinfecting that NYCHA is supervising there.
On Thursday NYCHA tested the water there after DOHMH notified the housing authority that a second resident had tested positive in January for Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease. That resident did not die, and the results of NYCHA’s testing are expected in two weeks, officials said.
At resident meetings last week, health department staff offered advice on how to minimize the chances of getting the disease, with older and medically vulnerable tenants advised to take baths after filling the tub slowly and minimizing time in the bathroom while running the faucet. Residents were also advised to run the tap at a trickle while washing dishes in the sink, and to contact a doctor if they experience symptoms that include fever, chills, muscle aches or a cough.
“It is a pretty big disruption,” said Ciprian Noel, the resident association president for the development, who said city officials warned residents it could take weeks or months for the building to be cleared for showers. “It’s really really tough, but some sacrifices have to be made.”
Conflicting Guidance
Although there have been several cases of public housing residents getting Legionnaires’ disease at NYCHA developments in the last five years, this appears to be the first fatality during that time period.
On Friday Housing Authority officials told THE CITY that DOHMH and a third-party vendor have reviewed and signed off on NYCHA’s plan to monitor the water at the development going forward, and that the Nalco Chemical Co., a contractor hired by NYCHA in June, will oversee adding chlorination to the water to disinfect the system.
NYCHA spokesperson Michael Horgan noted that Nalco has the “necessary licenses” to handle this task. In September 2022, an outside vendor relying on a lab without a New York State testing license said the lab’s employees had detected arsenic in samples of water taken at the Jacob Riis Houses in the Lower East Side. That lab ultimately admitted the testing was erroneous.
A notice from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to residents of the Langston Hughes Houses in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
Legionella is not an issue in drinking water, but it can be transmitted via water vapor caused by steadily running water that occurs during showers or while filling up a tub or sink.
City officials said three public meetings over the course of last week gave residents a chance to city officials questions directly. Those who didn’t make it to the meetings were warned with health department signs hanging in the building’s lobby, warning certain vulnerable tenants not to shower, and to take other precautions to avoid water vapor.
The notices urged tenants over the age of 50 — particularly if they smoke or vape, have chronic lung conditions or weakened immune systems, or use medications that weaken their immune system — to take those extra precautions.
But those signs seemed to conflict with notices hung up by NYCHA, which told residents the water was being treated with chlorine and to use the water as usual.
“I’m upset. You just don’t know,” said Chanell, a 40-year-old resident who declined to give her last name when THE CITY interviewed her on Friday.
She’d attended one of the meetings where city officials had mentioned one resident died from the disease last summer, touching off a buzz of speculation around who it might have been. NYCHA and DOHMH have declined to provide any information on the tenant, including their age and whether they had prior medical issues.
“They said you could still use the water to cook but, it’s like, ‘you scared,’” she said, adding that city officials told them the disruption could last for two months or more.
Tenishia, a 56-year-old resident who declined to give her last name, also attended the meetings and said she understood the situation, though she noted the conflicting signage.
“That’s what creates a panic, and people don’t know what they should do and shouldn’t do,” she said. “With complete understanding it makes it easier to deal with the problem and to know how to protect yourself the best way that you can.”
In the last six years, Legionella has surfaced in four separate NYCHA developments: Drew Hamilton and St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem and Clason Point Gardens and Fort Independence in the Bronx. None of the nine residents who became sick died, although some were hospitalized.
In a 2018 survey, the city health department reported a dramatic ascendancy in the number of Legionnaires’ cases reported in New York City over the prior two decades, with 47 cases per 1,000 in 2000 rising to 656 cases per 1,000 in 2018. That included a big spike due to a Legionnaires’ outbreak in the South Bronx in 2015.
The disease remains relatively rare, averaging about 200 to 700 cases annually. By comparison there were 52,000 cases of influenza in New York in 2018, the health department reported.
9 hospitalized in cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Harlem
9 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease since Aug. 9. Seven of those people are 50 years or older. No deaths have been associated with the cluster. A virtual community meeting will be held Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.M. in the Harlem area. The health department is sampling and testing water from all cooling tower systems in the area of the cluster, officials say. The ZIP codes of concern are 10037 — which runs from 130th Street and Lenox Avenue to 145th Street — and 10039.
CeFaan Kim has more on the legionnaires’ disease cluster in Harlem.
CeFaan Kim has more on the legionnaires’ disease cluster in Harlem.
CeFaan Kim has more on the legionnaires’ disease cluster in Harlem.
CeFaan Kim has more on the legionnaires’ disease cluster in Harlem.
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) — The health department is investigating a community cluster of Legionnaires’ disease in Central Harlem and surrounding communities.
Officials say nine people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease since Aug. 9 and all have been hospitalized. Seven of those people are 50 years or older.
The ZIP codes of concern are 10037 — which runs from 130th Street and Lenox Avenue to 145th Street and Lenox — and 10039 –which runs from 145th Street and Edgecombe Avenue up to Harlem River Drive.
People get the disease by breathing in water vapor that contains bacteria.
The health department is sampling and testing water from all cooling tower systems in the area of the cluster.
New Yorkers with flu-like symptoms, cough, fever or difficulty breathing should get tested for Legionnaires’ and COVID-19.
“Anyone with flu-like symptoms should seek care early and – if they live in the affected area – ensure they are evaluated for Legionnaires’ disease,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi. “Most people exposed to Legionella don’t get sick but there are people at higher risk, such as those 50 and older, especially those who smoke and have chronic lung conditions.”
No deaths have been associated with the cluster.
“Dealing with COVID and we’ve already been comprised and COVID has changed our lives in so many ways and we’ve had so many losses due to COVID, this is just alarming to me,” said resident Jeff Williams.
Officials aren’t saying exactly where the problem originated from but within the two ZIP codes is Harlem Hospital.
Eyewitness News reached out to the hospital asking if it’s been impacted but we have not heard back.
Legionnaires’ disease is not contagious and can be treated with antibiotics when caught early.
A virtual community meeting will be held Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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Town hall meeting held in the Bronx to discuss latest Legionnaire’s cluster
Town hall meeting held in the Bronx to discuss latest Legionnaire’s cluster. The cluster in Morris Park has killed one person and left 12 more ill. Officials say 35 cooling towers in area were sampled on Saturday and Sunday, and 15 came back with positive results. More than 40 potential locations of vulnerable populations have been identified, including senior centers, and outreach teams have begun visiting them.”We have a situation here in this broader community that, I want to say, is different than what we experienced a couple of weeks back in the south Bronx,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.
MORRIS PARK, N.Y. (WABC) — The New York City Health Department addressed the latest cases of Legionnaire’s disease in the Bronx at a town hall meeting Thursday night.
The cluster in Morris Park has killed one person and left 12 more ill.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said all of the patients had pre-existing health problems.
The meeting was held at Maestro’s Caterers on Bronxdale Avenue.
“We have a situation here in this broader community that, I want to say, in the outset, is different than what we experienced a couple of weeks back in the south Bronx,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. “This is a more limited situation.”
Officials say 35 cooling towers in area were sampled on Saturday and Sunday, and 15 came back with positive results (some buildings have multiple towers). They were located at:
–2725 East Tremont – Chase Bank
–1740 Eastchester Road – Calvary Hospital
–2964 East Tremont – Lehman High School
–1500 Waters Place – Bronx State Psychiatric
–1199 Sackett Ave – Einstein College
–1845 Eastchester Road – Einstein College
–1301 Morriss Park Ave – Einstein College
–1250 Morris Park Ave – Einstein College
–1865 Eastchester Road – Einstein College
–1925-1935 Eastchester Road – Einstein College
The cases are limited to the Morris Park area, where the mayor and health commissioner met with seniors Wednesday, reminding residents that the cluster is much smaller than the outbreak this summer in the South Bronx.
“Look at what’s happening in our emergency rooms in the Bronx, we don’t see any increased activity around pneumonia,” said de Blasio. “So those are very hopeful signs.”
“The new cases are all people who we went back through our records, talked to them about where they live, where they work and then attributed them to this cluster because we found a link with the Morris Park neighborhood,” said city Health Commissioner Mary Bassett.
All 15 locations have been ordered by the health Commissioner to begin cleaning and disinfection immediately, and all Emergency Departments have been contacted to look for cases. More than 40 potential locations of vulnerable populations have been identified, including senior centers, and outreach teams have begun visiting them.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/video/legionnaires-disease-cluster-found-in-harlem-nyc-health-says/