Health officials said they are investigating a likely community cluster of Legionnaires' in the South Bronx, where Yankee Stadium is located.
Boricua College, Lincoln Hospital and Cookies Department Store are among the other locations that had cooling towers that tested positive with PCR results.
Ten people have tested positive for the disease including one who died and three who remain hospitalized, the Health Department said. Authorities are still investigating the source or sources of the outbreak.
"I want to assure New Yorkers we are moving aggressively to contain the spread," New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at a news conference Monday. He later added, "This has been an issue that New Yorkers have had to deal with for far too many years, and we are looking to develop any kind of tool that can help to ensure that Legionnaires' is something that we're able to combat."
Health officials ordered the owners of the 10 towers to clean and disinfect them by Monday. The Yankees said the stadium tower that tested positive was drained and cleaned Sunday morning.
The Yankees said in a statement that new, state-of-the-art cooling towers were installed at the stadium in 2024 and have been tested weekly for water quality and bacteria since then. Those tests results are reported monthly to the city. The most recent testing on Aug. 20 was negative for Legionella bacteria, the team said, noting it uses a different method than the city used last week for its monthly testing.
"No current cases have been associated with Yankee Stadium," the team said. "Additionally, the New York City Department of Health has not at any point this month asked us to postpone our games."
The Health Department said anyone who lives or works in the Melrose and Morrisania sections of the Bronx, or have visited there since late August, and are experiencing flu-like symptoms should contact a healthcare provider immediately.
At Yankee Stadium, some fans expressed concern after learning about the situation.
"I thought it was a joke, and it was going viral," said Steven, a Mets fan. "I mean I thought I was good because I didn't have a suite and the air conditioning wasn't hitting me, so I thought I was good."
Health officials said air-conditioned air is not considered a threat because the bacteria travels through water vapor.
"The thing that's concerning for us is the water vapor from the cooling tower being shot outwards into the community," said Dr. Alister Martin, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health. "It's not so much that we're concerned that the water vapor is being pushed into the building itself."
Officials said the mist can travel up to three blocks from a tower.
The city is now performing culture tests on samples from the 10 towers than can take up to two weeks to confirm whether bacteria were alive.
In a statement, the president of Boricua College said: "Two companies came in over the weekend and worked day and night to clean the tower. The remediation is complete. We can guarantee that the cooling tower is clean. Students and staff at both the Bronx and Brooklyn campuses have been notified."
Legionnaires' disease is treatable but kills about 10% of patients, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water and can spread in such places as hot tubs and building cooling equipment. People may contract the disease by inhaling contaminated water droplets, but it doesn't spread person-to-person.
Officials emphasized that it is safe to shower, use air conditioning and drink the water in the affected area.
A Legionnaire's outbreak earlier this summer on Manhattan's Upper East Side killed 11 people among more than 90 who tested positive, the Health Department said. The agency said 59 cooling towers at 58 buildings tested positive for live Legionella bacteria. All those towers were cleaned and disinfected.
"And folks better believe if we find that a building owner was noncompliant, didn't do what they're supposed to do, drop the ball, there will be consequences and we will hold them accountable," Martin said.
An in-person town hall is scheduled for Tuesday at Metropolitan College as the investigation continues.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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