Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
A Large Community Outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease Associated With a Cooling Tower in New York City, 2015.
Weiss, Don; Boyd, Christopher; Rakeman, Jennifer L; Greene, Sharon K; Fitzhenry, Robert; McProud, Trevor; Musser, Kimberlee; Huang, Li; Kornblum, John; Nazarian, Elizabeth J; Fine, Annie D; Braunstein, Sarah L; Kass, Daniel; Landman, Keren; Lapierre, Pascal; Hughes, Scott; Tran, Anthony; Taylor, Jill; Baker, Deborah; Jones, Lucretia; Kornstein, Laura; Liu, Boning; Perez, Rodolfo; Lucero, David E; Peterson, Eric; Benowitz, Isaac; Lee, Kristen F; Ngai, Stephanie; Stripling, Mitch; Varma, Jay K.
Affiliation
  • Weiss D; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Boyd C; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Rakeman JL; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Greene SK; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Fitzhenry R; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • McProud T; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Musser K; 2 The Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
  • Huang L; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Kornblum J; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Nazarian EJ; 2 The Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
  • Fine AD; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Braunstein SL; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Kass D; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Landman K; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Lapierre P; 2 The Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
  • Hughes S; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Tran A; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Taylor J; 2 The Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
  • Baker D; 2 The Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY, USA.
  • Jones L; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Kornstein L; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Liu B; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Perez R; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Lucero DE; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Peterson E; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Benowitz I; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Lee KF; 3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
  • Ngai S; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Stripling M; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
  • Varma JK; 1 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.
Public Health Rep ; 132(2): 241-250, 2017.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-28141970
ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES:

Infections caused by Legionella are the leading cause of waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States. We investigated a large outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in New York City in summer 2015 to characterize patients, risk factors for mortality, and environmental exposures.

METHODS:

We defined cases as patients with pneumonia and laboratory evidence of Legionella infection from July 2 through August 3, 2015, and with a history of residing in or visiting 1 of several South Bronx neighborhoods of New York City. We describe the epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory investigation that identified the source of the outbreak.

RESULTS:

We identified 138 patients with outbreak-related Legionnaires' disease, 16 of whom died. The median age of patients was 55. A total of 107 patients had a chronic health condition, including 43 with diabetes, 40 with alcoholism, and 24 with HIV infection. We tested 55 cooling towers for Legionella, and 2 had a strain indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis from 26 patient isolates. Whole-genome sequencing and epidemiologic evidence implicated 1 cooling tower as the source of the outbreak.

CONCLUSIONS:

A large outbreak of Legionnaires' disease caused by a cooling tower occurred in a medically vulnerable community. The outbreak prompted enactment of a new city law on the operation and maintenance of cooling towers. Ongoing surveillance and evaluation of cooling tower process controls will determine if the new law reduces the incidence of Legionnaires' disease in New York City.
Subject(s)
Key words

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Legionella / Legionnaires' Disease / Disease Outbreaks / Environmental Exposure Type of study: Prognostic_studies / Risk_factors_studies Limits: Adult / Aged / Female / Humans / Male / Middle aged Country/Region as subject: America do norte Language: En Journal: Public Health Rep Year: 2017 Document type: Article Affiliation country:

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Legionella / Legionnaires' Disease / Disease Outbreaks / Environmental Exposure Type of study: Prognostic_studies / Risk_factors_studies Limits: Adult / Aged / Female / Humans / Male / Middle aged Country/Region as subject: America do norte Language: En Journal: Public Health Rep Year: 2017 Document type: Article Affiliation country:
...