In 2015, there were two outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, United States. Between January and August 2015, one hundred and thirty people in New York City were infected with Legionnaires', but the majority of them were in the Bronx. Legionnaires Disease is an acute type of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

that is caused by the inhalation of

aerosolized Aerosolization is the process or act of converting some physical substance into the form of particles small and light enough to be carried on the air i.e. into an aerosol. Aerosolization refers to a process of intentionally oxidatively converting a ...

water containing the Legionella bacteria. Forty-two Legionella species have been classified to date, and these bacteria can grow in areas where there is warm water, such as

cooling towers A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and ...

January 2015

In January 2015, Legionnaires' disease sickened 8 people near

Co-op City Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by Interstate 95 to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River ...

's cooling towers in the northeast Bronx. Twelve people were diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease between December 2014 and the end of the

outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

in January 2015.

August 2015

In an unrelated July and August 2015 outbreak, the disease affected at least 120 people and caused at least twelve deaths in the South Bronx area. The cause of the outbreak was traced back to the Opera House Hotel on July 10, 2015, and was declared as over as of August 20. Following the Morrisania outbreak, city officials stated that they would be pursuing new regulations for cooling towers. Affected buildings were also ordered to be decontaminated within 14 days, under the threat of misdemeanor charges.

September 2015

On September 21, 2015, 13 more cases of Legionnaires Disease were identified and were said to be unrelated to the

outbreaks In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...

from previous months. 35 cooling towers were inspected and 15 of these tested positive for the Legionella bacteria. After the cases surfaced, city officials put

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

programs into effect that require building owners to perform quarterly inspections and to verify that the

have been tested and are free of the Legionnella bacteria.

References

{{Legionnaires' disease Legionellosis 2010s in the Bronx 2015 in New York City Co-op City, Bronx Morrisania, Bronx 2015 disasters in the United States 2015 disease outbreaks Disease outbreaks in the United States Disasters in New York City Infectious disease deaths in New York (state)