Two extra individuals within the New York Metropolis borough of the Bronx have died of Legionnaires’ illness, bringing the demise toll to 12 within the largest outbreak of the illness in New York Metropolis historical past, officers stated Monday.
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City health officials said the last time a person became sick with Legionnaires’ was a week ago on August. 3, and that the outbreak has peaked.
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of a pneumonia contracted when a person inhales mist that contains the bacteria Legionnella, according to health officials.
“As we continue to investigate the potential sources of this cluster, we remind New Yorkers that this is a very treatable disease and we urge anyone who might be experiencing symptoms of Legionnaires’ disease to seek medical attention immediately”, Bassett said last month.
The proposal comes as both city and state health officials work to find and disinfect every cooling tower in the city.
Earlier this week, a University Hospitals spokesperson said a 53-year-old woman died Thursday morning after being diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease.
The outbreak has been traced back to contaminated water in cooling towers in the city. It will require all cooling towers to be registered with the city and subject to quarterly inspections, with risky levels of microbes required to be reported to health department.
Since July 10, the outbreak has been concentrated in the South Bronx neighborhood, which is one of the poorest in the United States.
The disease has a 10-day incubation period, which has caused a lag in the reporting of cases.
Richard Harbus/for New York Daily News A state Department of Health volunteer hand out flyers concerning the Legionnaire’s breakout. Little has been done to address the safety risks of air-conditioning cooling towers found in many large buildings.
De Blasio also grew impatient when reporters pointed out that the numbers of buildings testing positive Cuomo presented Monday did not match the figures coming out of City Hall. Out of the 39 towers that were tested, 15 tested positive for the bacteria. So far, 76 people have been treated and discharged from hospitals.
The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee said Monday the troubled VA should fire problem employees faster and that Congress should make it easier for the entire government to dismiss bad workers.
“We’ve never seen a situation like this before in New York City or, of course, these efforts would have been in place in advance”, the mayor said.
“We’ve got been aggressive”, Cuomo stated concerning the state’s response.
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has sparred with de Blasio in public comments on how the outbreak has been handled.
