New York City officials have identified at least 71 cases of Legionnaires' Disease since July 10, following an outbreak in the South Bronx. Four people have died.
Jay Varma, the deputy health commissioner, said that the bacteria tends to sicken the elderly and those with already weak immune systems.
People in the Bronx have gotten sick after inhaling contaminated mist from the cooling towers outside of buildings — not from the air conditioning within them. The city tested 17 towers and found five with the harmful bacteria, Varma said. All of the towers have since been cleaned.
Still, the number of cases of Legionnaires' Disease may rise in the coming days, since people could have become infected before the cleaning took place. The incubation period for the disease is 10 days.
The recent outbreak has worried some South Bronx residents. Sylvia Myers, who was walking along 149th Street near Third Avenue with her mother and two young daughters on Sunday, said she was going to avoid air conditioned places even though the city has said those places are safe.
Myers' mother, Rosita, criticized the city for not communicating better with Bronx residents. She said anything she learned about the outbreak was from short television news segments.
"They really don't give a rat's behind about this area," she said. "And if a few people from around here die, what do they care? That's how I feel."
Varma said that health officials have worked closely with community organizations, elected officials and healthcare providers from the Bronx to connect with residents particularly vulnerable to getting sick from Legionnaires', like the elderly or people with existing medical issues. If those people have a fever, cough or difficultly breathing they should seek medical care, Varma said.
Carl Jones, a Brooklyn resident who was in the South Bronx visiting his children on Sunday, said he was only a little worried about the disease outbreak.
"You never know where it's at, because they don't know where it's at," he said. "But for the most part I take a lot of vitamins and herbs to help my body fight off a lot of stuff."