Source: http://www.nbcnewyork.com, July 29, 2015
by: Ray Villeda and Brynn Gingras
Nearly three dozen cases of Legionnaires’ disease, a severe, often lethal, form of pneumonia spread through the air, have been reported in the Bronx over the last two weeks in what the Health Department is calling a concerning “unusual increase” in cases.

Thirty-one cases have been reported in south Bronx neighborhoods, primarily in High Bridge, Morrisania, Hunts Point and Mott Haven, since July 10, the Health Department said. Two of the people stricken with the condition died.

Legionnaires’ disease is caused by exposure to the bacteria Legionella; in most cases, people are exposed to the bacteria by inhaling contaminated aerosols from cooling towers, hot tubs, showers and faucets or drinking water.

Officials are testing water from cooling towers and other potential sources in the area to determine the source of the outbreak.

Legionnaires’ disease usually sets in two to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria and has symptoms similar to pneumonia, including shortness of breath, high fever, chills and chest pains. People with Legionnaires’ also experience appetite loss, confusion, fatigue and muscle aches.

It cannot be spread person-to-person and those at highest risk for contracting the illness include the elderly, cigarette smokers, people with chronic lung or immune system disease and those receiving immunosuppressive drugs. Most cases can be treated successfully with antibiotics.

The Health Department urges anyone with symptoms to seek immediate medical attention.

“We are concerned about this unusual increase in Legionnaires’ disease cases in the south Bronx,” Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said in a statement. “We are conducting a swift investigation to determine the source of the outbreak and prevent future cases.”

At a news briefing on hot weather Wednesday afternoon, Bassett said the investigation was in its early stages, and reiterated early treatment was crucial.

“We have our disease detectives out in the field, scanning the environment and looking for places to take samples,” Bassett said.

“We know a lot about Legionnaires’, we know a lot about outbreaks — this particular outbreak is still under investigation. We have an evolving situation,” she added. “This is a common and readily treated pneumonia and we want to make sure people get care.”

Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx confirmed it had received Legionnaires’ patients, but declined to say how many and referred questions to the Health Department.

John Dudley, district manager of Bronx Community Board 3, said the Health Department hadn’t notified him about the outbreak and he wanted more information to spread to residents in his neighborhoods.

“I’m shocked,” Dudley said, adding he was at least glad to know the disease couldn’t be spread through person-to-person contact.

James Rouse, 42, died of Legionnaires’ three months ago; he’s not one of the two deaths linked to the more recent Bronx outbreak, but his family wonders if it’s connected. He lived in Manhattan but taught music to children in the South Bronx. On April 30, he went to the hospital with a 104-degree fever, was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ and then died 10 days later.

“If it turns out those two people died and it’s related to my brother’s death, and something could have been done about it — that kind of tragedy, I couldn’t put into words,” said brother John Rouse of Coram.

An outbreak last hit the Bronx in December. Between then and January, 12 people in Co-op City contracted the potentially deadly disease. Officials said a contaminated cooling tower was likely linked to at least 75 percent of those cases. No one died in that outbreak.