New York City health officials announced Monday that seven new cases of Legionnaires' disease have been confirmed in the Morris Park neighborhood of The Bronx. All seven patients have been hospitalized, according to Live Science.
The cases are a new cluster and are not related to the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the summer that originated from a contaminated cooling tower at the Opera House Hotel. The summer outbreak killed 12 and sickened 120 people.
The new cases were reported between Sept. 21 and Sept. 27. Health officials are conducting an investigation to determine the source of the contamination as environmental scientists took samples from all cooling towers in the area.
"I urge all New Yorkers to seek care immediately if they have flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, headache or difficulty breathing," city Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a press release. "The Department is taking immediate steps to determine the source and protect the people who live and work in Morris Park."
Dr. Jay Varna, deputy commissioner for disease control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said three of the seven patients were residents of Morris Park while the rest either visited the area or worked there. He noted that the patients lived or worked in different areas, indicating the possibility that they could have caught the disease from seven different sources, according to The New York Times.
The patients' ages range from 45 to 75, Varna said.
Every year, New York City sees 200 to 300 cases of Legionnaires' disease. Most of these arise from contaminated plumbing systems that provide Legionella a favorable environment in which to thrive, such as in cooling towers, hot tubs and hot water tanks, according to the Health Department.
