Fifth death in Central Harlem linked to Legionnaires' disease

The Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Central Harlem has been linked to a fifth death, the city health department said Monday, equaling the toll from an outbreak at a nursing home in 2022.

William Fowler, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, said the latest casualty was not a new death. Rather, it stemmed from investigators' conclusively linking an earlier death to the disease. The city said 108 people had been sickened, up from 101 reported on Friday, and 14 remained hospitalized.

The update follows word from the city last week that 12 water cooling towers in Central Harlem, scattered across 10 properties, had tested positive for Legionella, the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia. Legionella is spread by water droplets and vapors from contaminated water towers.

Several of the properties are connected with government operations, including Harlem Hospital, at 506 Lenox Ave., the city disclosed on Thursday.

Among the 10 locations, all but one had cooling towers that were either behind on required Legionella testing or had not been inspected by the city in the past year, according to a Gothamist analysis of city data.

The city said Monday that all 12 towers had been remediated. The officials have not yet stated whether bacteria discovered at those towers had been linked to the ongoing infections. Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse said in a statement that the city was still awaiting the results of DNA sequencing. She said the fifth Legionnaires' death occurred "before mid-August."

Jory Lange, a lawyer who said he represents 37 people who have contracted the disease in the current outbreak, called the death toll “shocking.”

“The building owners need to be held to account for this,” Lange said. “Legionnaires’ disease is completely preventable. None of this had to happen.”

City officials said last week that the outbreak was on the wane, though they expected new illnesses to be reported as people became aware of the outbreak and sought medical treatment.

The city passed a law in 2015 requiring all building owners to register their water cooling towers, and to put in place a maintenance plan to prevent and control the growth of Legionella and inspect and test cooling towers at least every three months.

The regulatory changes came after the worst outbreak in city history that year sickened more than 130 people and caused 16 deaths. In the 2022 outbreak, five people also died. Each year, on average, hundreds of cases of Legionnaires’ disease are reported. Last year, 257 New Yorkers were diagnosed with the disease. In 2018, the number topped 650.

This article was updated with additional information from the city.