Legionnaires' Disease Kills 1 In Forest Hills: Report

FOREST HILLS, NY – An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease has killed one person and sickened another in a Forest Hill apartment complex, according to reports.

The cases were reported to the city's Department of Health over two months at the Parker Towers complex at 104-60 Queens Blvd., according to DNAinfo.

"One person recovered, and one elderly person with health conditions died," the agency told the website. Health officials weren't immediately available to comment to Patch Thursday. (For more on this story and other local news, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The department told DNAinfo that it was testing the building's hot water plumbing system to see how the disease spread. Legionnaire's, which is a type of pneumonia, is not contagious and is typically contracted through water vapor.

Sources told DNAinfo that the two people affected were diagnosed between June and September.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, cough and difficulty breathing. It is usually treatable, but poses a particular risk to older people, according to Department of Health information.

In June, a person was killed after being sickened by the bacteria in Lenox Hill and, in 2015, an outbreak in The Bronx that was linked back to cooling towers killed 12 people.

Photo by NIAID via Flickr/Creative Commons