Legionnaires’ outbreak death toll rises to 12

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Two more people in the Bronx have died of Legionnaires’ disease, bringing the number of fatalities to 12 in the largest outbreak of the disease in New York City history, officials said Monday.

There are 113 reported cases of Legionnaires’ in the Bronx, and cooling towers in 18 buildings have tested positive for the legionella bacteria, officials said. While cleaning crews crisscrossed the Bronx, the continued tension between state and city governments threaten to undermine officials’ expressions of confidence that the outbreak is tapering off.

The outbreak has become the city’s most- significant public-health crisis since last fall’s Ebola scare. For more than a month, cases of Legionnaires’ – a form of pneumonia especially dangerous for the elderly and for people with underlying health issues – have been reported throughout a section of the South Bronx, the city’s poorest neighborhood.