(Bloomberg) — Six people have now died from a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City’s Central Harlem, and another seven are currently hospitalized with the condition, the city’s health department said.
The health department disclosed the updated numbers on Thursday and said there are now 111 confirmed cases. It said the latest death was tracked through disease detection by tracing routes of exposure and the last diagnosis was Aug. 13.
Health officials have said that 12 cooling towers have tested culture positive for live legionella bacteria across 10 buildings. The affected properties include a hospital and sexual health clinic, which are both run by the city.
Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ in New York City are usually caused by cooling towers that emit a mist into the air as they reduce temperatures for large buildings.
The outbreak was identified in Central Harlem in late July after a handful of people presented pneumonia-like symptoms and tested positive for the disease. The rate of infection has declined in recent weeks, according to a tracker from the NYC Health Department. A spokesperson for the department said the investigation into the cluster is ongoing.
The city saw its largest outbreak in 2015 in the Bronx, when a cluster of cases was linked to a single tower. More than 130 people were sickened and 16 people died, leading to the city to enact new rules on testing cooling towers.
The disease can cause a severe form of pneumonia, which may lead to lung failure and death. Healthy people typically don’t fall ill after breathing in the bacteria, but older people with specific health conditions or current and former smokers are most at risk, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About one in every 10 infections results in death. Most infections can be treated with an antibiotic.
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