Bacteria that cause potentially fatal Legionnaires ‘ disease were found in a Yankee Stadium cooling tower — one of 10 such towers in the Bronx that tested positive amid several reported cases of the illness including one death, New York City health officials said.
Only live bacteria can cause the disease, which is a form of pneumonia. Authorities are still investigating the source or sources of the outbreak . “Additionally, the New York City Department of Health has not at any point this month asked us to postpone our games. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s caused by Legionella bacteria, which grow in warm water and can spread in such places as hot tubs and building cooling equipment. People may contract the disease by inhaling contaminated water droplets, but it doesn’t spread person-to-person. All those towers were cleaned and disinfected.
The initial testing performed on the 10 towers last week found traces of living or dead bacteria. Legionnaires’ disease is treatable but kills about 10% of patients, according to the U.S. A Legionnaire’s outbreak earlier this summer on Manhattan’s Upper East Side killed 11 people among more than 90 who tested positive, the Health Department said. The agency said 59 cooling towers at 58 buildings tested positive for live Legionella bacteria.
The city’s Health Department said Sunday that more tests were being done to determine whether the Legionella bacteria in the towers was live, and the Yankees said none of the current Legionnaires’ disease cases in the area has been linked to the stadium. Health officials said they are investigating a likely community cluster of Legionnaires’ in the South Bronx, where Yankee Stadium is located. Ten people have tested positive for the disease including one who died and three who remain hospitalized, the Health Department said. “No current cases have been associated with Yankee Stadium,” the team said.
Last year, another Legionnaires’ outbreak in Harlem killed seven people and sickened dozens of others.
