Legionella Found in Guggenheim Cooling Tower Amid NYC Outbreak

So, there’s been a Legionnaires' disease outbreak on the Upper East Side, and the New York City Department of Health discovered Legionella bacteria in the Guggenheim Museum’s cooling tower. A museum spokesperson told Hyperallergic that they quickly followed the city’s recommendations for cleanup and confirmed that there’s no current risk to anyone. As of July 9, there have been 46 reported cases in zip codes 10028, 10128, and 10075. The Mayor's Office is testing over 180 cooling towers nearby, with 31 of those coming back positive, and 19 have already been fixed. The PCR tests can’t tell if the bacteria are alive or dead, and the disease spreads through water droplets. The museum regularly tests in line with city protocols, and staff were notified about this on July 8. The Metropolitan Museum of Art hasn’t released any comments yet, but the city plans to share a list of buildings that tested positive initially.