United States: It has been the source of tension among residents of the region where an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease hit earlier this summer, killing three people to date.
Although the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of the city said that it has identified 11 buildings with active Legionella bacteria, officials have yet to show a desire to publish the locations of the sites, citing only five ZIP codes that pose the highest danger to people.
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According to Health Commissioner Michelle Morse, she does not want to give New Yorkers the misguided feeling of safety by not being in proximity to the affected buildings.
Legionella bacteria may develop in cooling towers situated on the roof of buildings and spread in the air where they may infect people regardless of whether they occupy the building or not, as gothamist.com reported.
🚨🚨 Legionnaires’ outbreak in Harlem, NYC: 100+ cases & 4 deaths. Linked to 12 contaminated cooling towers in 10 buildings. Cooling towers must be monitored & tested to prevent risks. Rapid Legionella testing = faster action & safer operations. #Legionella #WaterSafety pic.twitter.com/oBt807iQfm
— hydrosense (@hydrosense) August 18, 2025
However, other residents complained that it does not leave them with much to go on. To provide a better explanation of how safety regulations aimed at Legionnaires outbreak prevention are enforced in the city, Gothamist crunched the almost ten-year worth of data about the inspections and violations that are publicly available in the five ZIP codes.
Our findings indicate that although the number of inspections citywide has decreased significantly since Mayor Eric Adams assumed office, the decrease has been more sharp not only in general but also in the five of the affected ZIP codes outlined by the health department.
The health department was not willing to answer the questions regarding the possibility of preventing the current outbreak through more testing.
The city has a large number of rooftop cooling towers built into thousands of buildings in the city, and supplies water for the air conditioning systems.
However, the warm water that stands in their tanks may turn into a breeding ground of a potentially deadly Legionella bacteria that may reach treacherous levels in just two weeks when uncontrolled, as the public health experts state, as gothamist.com reported.
When such bacteria are vaporized into the air, inhaling them may cause Legionnaires disease, which is a form of pneumonia.
The epidemic in Harlem, which began at the end of July, has already put over 20 people in the hospital.