NEW YORK
The Opera House Hotel has been given the “all clear” from health officials following a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease*, with the hotel’s cooling tower being confirmed as the initial source of the outbreak.
The Associated Press reported that after sampling and testing of the Legionnaires’-causing bacteria, laboratories matched the strain found in the South Bronx hotel’s rooftop unit with the strain found in 25 patients, some of whom died, according to Health Commissioner Mary Bassett.
Cooling towers in 18 buildings tested positive for the legionella bacteria and the outbreak prompted city and state officials to enforce the testing and inspection of building cooling towers across the state.
There has been a total of 128 cases of Legionnaires' since the start of the New York outbreak in early July and almost all of the patients who have been hospitalized with the disease have been released.
*Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia caused by legionella bacteria.
