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yesterday

Dual Legionnaires’ Clusters Strike Potts Point and Central Harlem

Health teams launched emergency cooling tower sampling after two fatalities alongside nearly 30 Legionnaires’ cases

This 1978 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Legionella pneumophila bacteria which are responsible for causing the pneumonic disease Legionnaires' disease.
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Overview

  • In Potts Point, Sydney, health officials have confirmed one death and six Legionnaires’ infections among residents exposed between mid-May and July 12.
  • No Legionella bacteria have been detected in tested water sources to date, but building owners have been ordered twice to disinfect cooling towers in the investigation area.
  • In Central Harlem, New York City Health Department reports 22 cases and one fatality since July 25, tracing exposures to cooling towers across ZIP codes 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037 and 10039.
  • All operable cooling towers in the Harlem cluster zone have been sampled, and owners with positive results are required to remediate within 24 hours.
  • Residents and workers in both areas are urged to seek immediate medical attention for flu-like symptoms to enable early antibiotic treatment.