Yankee Stadium cooling tower among 10 ordered cleaned in South Bronx

PCR test cannot distinguish live Legionella from dead, city says

The New York City Health Department ordered the disinfection of 10 cooling towers in the South Bronx on Monday, including one at Yankee Stadium, after they tested positive for Legionella bacteria. The order follows an outbreak that has sickened nine people and killed one, with city health officials continuing to investigate the cluster’s origin.

The 10 towers flagged for cleaning include cooling systems at Yankee Stadium, Lincoln Hospital and Boricua College’s Bronx campus. NYC Health + Hospitals said Sunday evening that Lincoln Hospital’s cooling tower had already been drained, cleaned and disinfected.

Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin cautioned during a Sunday town hall that PCR testing for Legionella has a critical limitation: the test cannot distinguish between live and dead bacteria.

“The one limitation, the one thing wrong with the PCR test, is it can’t tell us if the DNA is live legionella or dead,” Martin said. “And so, some of those 10 might have live bacteria, some of those might have dead bacteria, and it’s only the live bacteria that can get you sick.”

Martin added that people who have been inside a building served by a cooling tower that tested positive have not necessarily been exposed to the bacteria. “In essence, the air inside the building is not different from anywhere else in the neighborhood,” he said.

Health officials have tested 24 cooling towers in the course of investigating the cluster. Eight of the 10 positive towers were in compliance with the 31-day testing requirement the city instituted in May, according to the health department. Two towers — at 820 Concourse Village West and 1265 Franklin Avenue — were not in compliance with providing testing information.

The first fatality linked to the cluster was announced Friday. Of the nine people diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, three remained hospitalized as of Monday.

Legionella bacteria causes Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia, according to the health department.