Legionnaires’ disease can be contracted when a person inhales contaminated mist from a cooling tower or another water source.Įven as the hotel became a focus of public attention, often serving as a backdrop for news reports on the outbreak, the hotel had repeatedly said that no guests or hotel workers contracted Legionnaires’ disease and that it immediately treated and disinfected its tower.īut with confirmation that a cluster of cases has been directly linked to the hotel, it faces a fresh public-relations challenge. The only other cluster that had been identified was farther north and consisted of two people.Ĭity health officials have said they are awaiting test results that may be able to match the specific bacteria in each tower to individual patients who contracted the disease.Ĭooling towers are bulky structures that help control hot and cold air in buildings. In an interview, city health officials said the two clusters of three patients each, at the hotel and in a nearby building, were significant because a vast majority of those with the disease did not share a common address. The governor has faulted the city’s handling of the outbreak and has directed his health agency to take a more active role. Cuomo, a fellow Democrat, who held his own briefing. de Blasio found himself once again at odds with Gov. On Monday, city officials held a public briefing at which they announced the death toll had increased to 12 and detailed their continuing effort to address the outbreak.
Over the last few days, several more towers have tested positive for the Legionella bacteria, which causes Legionnaires’ disease, but city officials said they did not believe those sites were responsible for the outbreak. The other buildings in the group of towers with initial positive tests were Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Concourse Plaza shopping mall, a Verizon office building and Streamline Plastics Company. None of the guests contacted reported having come down with Legionnaires’ disease, or having developed any symptoms of it, Mr.
Isaacs said that last month hotel workers emailed every guest who had stayed at the hotel since July 1 and provided an email address. Glenn Isaacs, a representative for the Opera House Hotel, said that he was contacted on Monday night by an aide to Mayor Bill de Blasio and told that the hotel’s cooling tower had been linked to the clusters.
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