Town Hall Planned Following Legionnaires' Surge On The Upper East Side

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — As the Legionnaires' outbreak surges to 18 confirmed cases in Yorkville and Carnegie Hill, city officials are planning an in-person town hall meeting to answer questions and discuss safety measures this Tuesday.

The town hall will take place at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola's Wallace Hall, located at 980 Park Ave., between East 83rd Street and East 84th Street at 6 p.m.

The city also hosted a virtual town hall over Zoom on Monday night.

As of Sunday night, 18 people were sickened by the disease, with more expected as testing increases, officials said.

When the details of the cluster were first emerging, the community cluster was concentrated in ZIP codes 10028 and 10128, but this weekend, the health department added ZIP code 10075 to the investigation area.

Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia, is caused by bacteria called Legionella that thrive in warm water environments, like cooling towers and plumbing systems.

This cluster follows an outbreak of Legionella bacteria in the plumbing system at The Cherokee, a Yorkville co-op building complex, in February.

While that outbreak was contained to a building's plumbing system, health officials said this surge in cases is likely due to contaminated cooling towers, which create cold air by cycling warm air through water, creating a warm, humid environment within the system.

The disease spreads by inhaling contaminated mist, but is not contagious from person-to-person, officials said. Drinking tap water, showering, and using the air conditioner are all safe, officials said.

All cooling towers in the three ZIP codes are being tested and sampled for the bacteria by the health department, officials said. Any cooling towers that test positive will be fully remediated, officials said.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.

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• Legionnaires' Cluster Grows To 18 Cases On The UES, Officials Say

• 2 Sickened By Legionnaires' Disease On The UES, Officials Say
• ‘I Worry About My Neighbors’: Inside A Yorkville Co-Op’s Legionella Scare