New York Legionnaires' outbreak over; source ID'd as hotel

NEW YORK -- New York City's top health official announced Thursday that the city's largest outbreak of Legionnaires' disease is now over.

During a news conference at the New York City Health Laboratory, Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said officials are confident the spread of the disease has stopped.

Bassett also identified the Bronx Opera House Hotel cooling tower as the originating source of the outbreak. She said tests from three different labs confirmed that 25 samples from people who contracted the disease -- some of whom died -- were linked to the genetic code of the Legionella bacteria found at the hotel's tower.

A health department worker showed the genetic makeup of different strains of Legionella bacteria that was collected during the testing, and the hotel's strain was a match. Other sites that tested positive did not match.

The hotel issued a statement after Thursday's briefing.

"It's particularly disappointing because our system is two years old, has the most up-to-date technology available and our maintenance plan has been consistent with the regulations that both the city and the state are putting in place," a spokesperson for the hotel said. "We have worked closely with both the city and the state since this issue first arose and have done everything requested to address the situation. Tests completed just yesterday confirm that our tank is completely clear of any Legionella pneumophila."

The spokesperson said the hotel is taking preventive measures that will beat the new regulations.

"We fully support the new regulations. We believe they are appropriate and will enhance the protection of public health. That said, we intend to go beyond the requirement to test our cooling tower every 90 days by testing every 30 days when the tower is in operation. Given recent events, we have decided to be especially cautious going forward," the spokesperson said.

The Opera House was among the first five locations that city officials identified as spreading the disease via cooling towers.

The outbreak was contained to specific sections of the South Bronx. A widespread and mandatory cooling tower testing effort found 14 cooling towers testing positive for Legionella bacteria within that zone. All were cleaned.

City officials said Legionella is spread through the mist expelled from cooling towers at the top of buildings, and those who contract the disease breathe it in.

In all, a total of 124 cases of Legionnaires' disease were reported in that area of the city since July 10. Out of those cases, 12 people died, and all had other health conditions when they became infected with the bacteria. No new cases have been reported since Aug. 3.

As a result of the record outbreak of the disease, Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced legislation requiring regular testing of cooling towers citywide. City council passed it last Thursday.

Then on Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced emergency health regulations that require the testing and inspection of cooling towers statewide.