WATCH ABOVE: The death toll in an Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York has now topped ten, with city health officials claiming they have a handle on the illness. Erika Edwards reports.
NEW YORK – State officials are deploying 150 trained workers to test cooling towers in the borough of the Bronx for traces of Legionnaires’ disease amid the largest outbreak in New York City’s history.
Ten people have died and 101 have been sickened.
The bacteria were found in five buildings within a few blocks of one another in the South Bronx.
READ MORE: Death toll rises to 8 amid outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in NYC
The victims were adults with underlying medical conditions. The disease is a form of pneumonia caused by breathing in mist contaminated with the Legionella bacteria.
State officials stress that they’re working in conjunction with the city health department.
But their presence in the Bronx comes a day after the long-simmering feud between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio ignited again over their administrations’ response to the outbreak.
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