NYC Emergency Measures Require Immediate Remediation in Latest Legionnaires’ Outbreak
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health) has ordered 76 buildings to clean and disinfect their cooling towers in response to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease affecting the city’s Upper East Side. Of the 64 people sickened in the outbreak, 53 were hospitalized and 40 have been discharged, according to statistics released yesterday by NYC Health. None of the cases have been fatal.
The cooling towers in the 76 buildings were identified by PCR screening tests for Legionella bacteria. NYC Health is now conducting culture testing to identify which cooling towers contain live bacteria. Cultures can take up to two weeks to produce results.
According to emergency measures announced July 7, any building with cooling towers that test positive during PCR screening will be required to immediately drain, clean, and disinfect the affected towers. As of July 14, 57 buildings had completed remediation.
NYC Health has also released the addresses of all buildings with positive PCR tests. Those buildings include the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Statistics from NYC Health indicate that between 200 and 700 cases of Legionnaires’ disease occurred each year in New York City from 2019 through 2022. The most recent city outbreak led to 114 confirmed cases, 90 hospitalizations, and seven deaths in August 2025.
Last month at AIHA Connect 2026, two educational sessions assessed regulations that New York City adopted in 2015 to address Legionnaires’ outbreaks. Presenters at these sessions were critical of built-in delays in the regulations that allow weeks to pass before remediation can begin. The new emergency measures appear to address some of the delays.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the American Legion convention in Philadelphia that gave Legionnaires’ disease its name.
The most recent statement from NYC Health about the outbreak is available as a PDF. Statistics about the outbreak are tracked online. For more information about the emergency measures, read the news release from the Office of the Mayor.