NEW YORK (AP) — An outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease in a Bronx neighborhood has sickened 19 people since the beginning of the month, with one person dying. The Health Department says cooling towers in the borough’s Highbridge section have been tested for the presence of the bacteria Legionella which causes the disease, a form of pneumonia. The bacteria was found in four of the towers, which the department ordered to be disinfected. People can get Legionnaires’ disease when they breathe in water vapor with the bacteria. It isn’t contagious, and can be treated with antibiotics, but can be dangerous for some people like those with pre-existing conditions.
Photo: This 1978 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Legionella pneumophila bacteria which are responsible for causing the pneumonic disease Legionnaires’ disease. (Francis Chandler/CDC via AP)