“After extensive review and coordination of laboratory data at the city, state and federal levels, we have identified the source of the outbreak in the South Bronx – the Opera House Hotel’s cooling tower”, city Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said.
Advertisement
The Health Department says the hotel’s “inadequate maintenance and inadequate levels of biocide may have contributed” to the outbreak. James Keivom/New York Daily News “All cooling towers in the affected area have been disinfected, and all cooling towers across the City are being evaluated and disinfected if necessary”, said Bassett.
There have been no new cases with Legionnaires’ disease symptoms after August 3, hence the decision Thursday to declare the outbreak over.
Bassett said “historic legislation passed by the City Council and signed by Mayor de Blasio should help prevent tragic outbreaks like this from occurring again”.
As of Wednesday, 12 people in the Bronx had died in the outbreak, and there have been 119 reported individuals with the disease, according to city data. Legionnaires’ is an extreme type of pneumonia brought on when a man breathes in the legionella microscopic organisms.
“We eliminated the danger posed by the Opera House Hotel’s cooling tower as soon as it tested positive for disease-causing legionella”. “We hope to advance the science about how to improve control from New York’s experience”.
As per the bill, it will be compulsory for building owners to carry out quarterly inspections of cooling towers and register them with city. But it’s unclear whether every patient walked right by the hotel; mist can travel up to a mile, under some conditions, officials said.
The Opera House Hotel’s building is more than a century old and once housed performances by Harry Houdini, the Marx Brothers and George Burns.
But on Thursday, the hotel, which was open, issued a statement saying that city and state health officials “have kept us fully informed” and pointed out that a test Wednesday was negative for the Legionnaires’-causing bacteria.
“Cooling towers have been implicated in several outbreaks of Legionnaire’s Disease in recent years”, said state Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker, M.D.
Advertisement
The statewide regulations, which Cuomo called “first of their kind”, take effect immediately.
