Legionella bacteria, which cause potentially fatal Legionnaires' disease, have been detected in a cooling tower at Yankee Stadium, New York City health officials announced Sunday. This discovery comes as authorities investigate a likely community cluster of the illness in the South Bronx, where the stadium is located, which has affected 10 people, including one fatality.
Health officials are conducting further tests to determine if the bacteria found in the stadium's tower are live, as only live bacteria can cause the disease, a form of pneumonia. Initial tests on 10 cooling towers in the Bronx, including the one at Yankee Stadium, had found traces of either live or dead bacteria. Owners of these 10 towers have been ordered to clean and disinfect them by Monday.
The Yankees stated that the stadium tower found with bacteria was drained and cleaned on Sunday morning. The team also emphasized that no current Legionnaires' disease cases have been linked to Yankee Stadium and that the city's Health Department has not requested game postponements. According to the team, new cooling towers installed in 2024 have been tested weekly for water quality and bacteria, with the most recent test on August 20 showing no Legionella.
The city's Health Department is performing culture tests on samples from the 10 towers, a process that can take up to two weeks to confirm if the bacteria were alive. Legionnaires' disease is treatable, but it has a mortality rate of about 10%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacteria thrive in warm water and can spread through mist from sources like hot tubs and building cooling systems. Transmission occurs through inhaling contaminated water droplets, not person-to-person contact.
This situation follows a significant Legionnaires' outbreak earlier in the summer on Manhattan's Upper East Side, which resulted in 11 deaths and over 90 reported cases. In that instance, 59 cooling towers across 58 buildings tested positive for live Legionella bacteria and were subsequently cleaned and disinfected. In the previous year, an outbreak in Harlem led to seven deaths and dozens of other illnesses.