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Thirty-four cooling towers at 33 buildings on the Upper East Side tested positive for live Legionella bacteria, the New York City Health Department announced Tuesday.
Health officials said nine towers tested negative for live bacteria, and they are waiting on results for an additional 140 cooling towers. Those results are expected to come back over the next week.
As of Tuesday, officials say there have been 82 Legionnaires' disease cases connected to the cluster, including five deaths.
Live Legionella bacteria test results
The positive results mean that the cooling tower contained live Legionella bacteria, which can cause Legionnaires' disease, at the time it was tested.
Health officials say all of the buildings on the list have already completed remediation, meaning they have drained, cleaned and disinfected their cooling towers.
The following buildings' cooling towers tested positive for live Legionella bacteria:
- 100 East End Ave.
- 180 East End Ave.
- 1381 Lexington Ave.
- 1486 Lexington Ave.
- 1020 Park Ave.
- 1249 Park Ave.
- 1750 York Ave.
- 1660 Second Ave.
- 1438 Third Ave.
- 1551 Third Ave.
- 1001 Fifth Ave.
- 1080 Fifth Ave.
- 1045 Fifth Ave.
- 1071 Fifth Ave.
- 135 E 79th St.
- 155 E 79th St.
- 300 E 79th St.
- 301 E 80th St.
- 511 E 80th St.
- 238 E 81st St.
- 240 E 82nd St.
- 8 E 83rd St.
- 13 E 84th St.
- 145 E 84th St.
- 7 E 86th St.
- 120 E 87th St.
- 125 E 87th St.
- 501 E 87th St.
- 168 E 88th St.
- 410 E 92nd St.
- 200 E 95th St.
- 235 E 95th St.
- 115 E 97th St.
The health department website will be updated with additional test results as they come back.
According to the health department, these positive results mean these cooling towers may or may not be the source of the Legionnaires' disease cluster in the 10028, 10075 and 10128 ZIP code area on the Upper East Side.
For more information on testing, visit the health department's website.
5th death reported in Legionnaires' disease cluster
The health department also announced a fifth death in connection to the cluster.
As of Tuesday, officials say eight people are currently hospitalized, 56 have been discharged, 13 did not need to be hospitalized, and five have died.
An attorney representing the widow of one of the victims who died is planning to file a lawsuit once the city determines the source of the outbreak.
Health officials say there have been no new cases diagnosed in six days, and no one has reported new symptoms in more than 10 days.
Officials believe the source of the outbreak has likely been eliminated.
Anyone who spends time in the impacted area who experiences flu-like symptoms should seek medical attention.
