Sixth person dies in Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak

UPPER EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A sixth person has died from the Legionnaires' outbreak on the Upper East Side, health officials said on Tuesday.

So far, 90 people have been diagnosed with the disease since the outbreak was first identified. Six patients remain hospitalized, while 65 have already been discharged.

The New York City Health Department is currently investigating a community cluster of Legionnaires' disease in the Upper East Side neighborhoods of Carnegie Hill and Yorkville (ZIP codes 10028, 10128, and 10075).

Officials say they are confident the source of the Legionella bacteria has been eliminated.

Cooling tower remediation results:

83 cooling towers at 160 buildings have been tested for Legionellabacteria. Of those:

- 77 cooling towers at 75 buildings tested PCR positive for the presence of Legionellabacteria in initial testing.
- 59 cooling towers at 58 buildings tested culture positive, confirming the presence of live Legionellabacteria. All have been cleaned and disinfected.
- In total, 106 cooling towers have tested culture negative. All other results are pending at this time.



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