Central Park Visitors Warned by NYC Officials of Legionnaires’ Outbreak

Central Park Visitors Warned by NYC Officials of Legionnaires’ Outbreak

It’s been a while since Leslie Eastman wrote about Legionnaires’ disease in New York City.

The New York City Health Department warned Central Park visitors about a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on the Upper East Side, which now has 18 cases.

The main targets are zip codes 10028, 10128, and 10075:

Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia. The risk to most people is low, but if you live or work in or have visited these ZIP codes and have flu-like symptoms, see a healthcare provider right away. Symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, and shortness of breath.

The likely source of the bacteria causing this pneumonia is a cooling tower in the affected area. Cooling towers are water systems usually found on the top of buildings. They control the temperature of cooling systems, such as refrigeration. The cooling towers spray mist that contains the bacteria. All cooling towers in the affected area are being tested by the Health Department.

This is not an issue with any building’s plumbing system. It is safe for you to drink water, bathe, shower, cook, and use your air conditioner.

Considering it’s summer, no one can stress enough how important it is to use your air conditioner!

“It’s my expectation that we’ll see more cases. Now why is that? It’s because we just spent the weekend telling the city’s doctors to test for this, the hospitals to test for this, the nurses to test for this disease,” according to NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin. “And so, my expectation is we’re going to see more cases, and that is an example of the system working right — catching these people early and making sure to treat this.”

Luckily, the disease doesn’t spread from person-to-person. If you’re healthy, your chances of contracting the illness are low.

Leslie explained more about the disease last August when it struck Harlem:

Legionnaire’s disease got its name after a 1976 American Legion convention in Philadelphia, where a large outbreak of a mysterious pneumonia occurred. Months later, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered it was caused by a new bacterium, now called Legionella, which they realized was responsible for many cases of pneumonia each year. For example, between 2023 and 2024, over 13,000 cases of this illness occurred within the U.S.

Antibiotics can treat the infection, too. But you need to see a doctor as soon as you develop symptoms. If you wait, the infection could become severe enough to cause respiratory complications that require oxygen.

The Harlem outbreak last year sickened over 100 people and killed seven.

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