Harlem NYCHA Residents Contract Legionnaires' Disease

HARLEM, NY — Three people fell ill with Legionnaires' Disease at a Harlem public housing building, prompting the local congressman to call on the New York City Housing Authority to inspect water cooling systems at all of its buildings, according to officials.

Three residents of the Saint Nicholas Houses — a 13-building development located between Frederick Douglass and Adam Clayton Powell boulevards and West 127th and West 131st streets — were sent to the hospital with Legionnaires' Disease and later discharged, public housing officials said. NYCHA confirmed the three cases on Aug. 17 and began testing the development's water tanks the next day, a spokesman for the housing authority said.

Tests confirmed the presence of legionella bacteria in several of the buildings at the Saint Nicholas Houses, a NYCHA spokesman said. Water systems at all 13 buildings are being cleaned and jetted, with priority given to buildings where the legionella bacteria was found.

"The health and safety of our residents is our top priority. Out of an abundance of caution, NYCHA undertook immediate testing of the water at Saint Nicholas Houses and is now proactively cleaning all hot water tanks to ensure the safety of our residents," a NYCHA spokesman said in a statement.

Congressman Adriano Espaillat called on the New York City Housing Authority to conduct immediate system-wide inspection for legionella bacteria at its properties. Two residents of the Fort Independence Houses in the Bronx — also located in Espaillat's district — also recently fell ill with the disease, NBC New York reported.

"I am very concerned that this is a bigger problem than meets the eye and I'm asking NYCHA and the New York City Health and Mental Hygiene Department to conduct a very rigorous test and protocol to determine whether or not there is a presence of legionella in any water cooling towers across NYCHA complexes," Espaillat said in a video statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday.

Legionnaires' symptoms include fever, cough, chills, muscle aches, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, confusion and diarrhea and generally surface two to 10 days after contact with the bacteria Legionella. Common culprits in the spread of the Legionella bacteria include cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks, and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, the Department of Health said. The city sees an average of 200 to 500 cases of Legionnaires' Disease each year, health officials said.

The disease cannot be spread from one person to another, the Department of Health said in a statement.

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