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NEW YORK CITY (WPIX) – A fifth person has died in connection with the Legionnaires’ outbreak in New York City, health officials reported on Tuesday evening.
Officials also confirmed that live Legionella bacteria had been discovered in 34 cooling towers at 33 buildings through culture tests.
The cooling towers that have tested positive have been fully cleaned and completed remediation.
“We have responded rapidly and aggressively to this Legionnaires’ cluster on the Upper East Side,” NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister F. Martin said. “With two confirmed cases, we launched our investigation and directed every building with an initial positive test result to immediately clean and disinfect its cooling tower. These actions have saved lives.”
As of Tuesday, eighty-two cases of Legionnaires’ disease had been identified in connection with the outbreak, and eight individuals remained hospitalized.
Of the five confirmed deceased, one of the victims was identified as an 88-year-old businessman and Air Force Veteran, who died after battling the illness for two-weeks, according to his widow’s attorney.
Ron Katter, speaking with Nexstar’s WPIX, said his client’s husband was found sick by his wife on July 2.
“She had gone to take care of an errand and left him sitting in his apartment, next to an open window, reading a magazine, paying his bills,” Katter said. “And when she returned, he wasn’t feeling well and he had a very high fever of 104 degrees.”
Katter plans to sue the owner of the cooling tower when the city health department determines exactly which one is responsible for the active Legionella bacteria that made people sick.
Legionnaires’ disease is a form of severe pneumonia caused by a type of bacteria that thrives in warm, stagnant water. The disease is treatable, but 10 percent of people will die due to complications from the illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Earlier this week, Martin said investigators had noticed a decline in new cases, indicating the source of exposure to Legionella bacteria had likely been eliminated. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said as much on Monday, as well.
WPIX’s Spencer Gustafson and Eileen Lehpamer, as well as the Associated Press, contributed to this report.
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