The city Department of Health (DOH) is investigating how two people contracted Legionnaires’ Disease in the Bronx’s largest Mitchell-Lama properties, the Norwood News has learned. A meeting is now being scheduled tonight to discuss the investigation.
DOH staffers slipped notices underneath the apartment doors of tenants living in Tracey Towers, specifically 20 W. Mosholu Pkwy. S., in Bedford Park alerting them of the investigation, where two people in one of the massive towers were determined to be infected with the fatal disease that is known to be water borne. The bacteria is known to remain active in cooling towers, which has left Hill unsure how the tenants contracted the disease since Tracey Towers has no cooling towers.
“People are stunned,” said Jean Hill, president of the Tracey Towers Tenants Association. Tracey Towers opened in 1974 and houses middle-income earners. In the last few years the population has gotten older, leading to fears more can be infected. Symptoms of the disease include fever, chills, and a cough. It can lead to pneumonia and respiratory failure.
A DOH spokesman said the agency and building management “are promptly alerting residents of the situation, and providing guidance on how to prevent exposure, especially for those at higher risk for disease.” They emphasize that the water is still drinkable, though DOH officials will be alerting residents they consider high-risk to take extra precaution.
Some additional recommendations from DOH includes:
- Individuals at higher-risk include those aged 50 or older (especially if they smoke cigarettes), people with chronic lung disease, and those with compromised immune systems. People in these groups should take the following precautions:
- Don’t take a shower, even a cool shower—since it could create water vapor (mist). Instead, take a bath, but fill the tub slowly. Try to minimize your time in the bathroom while the tub is filling.
- It’s fine to wash dishes, but fill the sink slowly to avoid creating mist.
- It’s fine to drink cold water from the tap, but start with cold water when heating water for tea, coffee or cooking.
- Tenants do not need to wear a mask.
- It is important to continue to wash your hands
At an unrelated news conference in the Bronx, Mayor Bill de Blasio said “it is a reality in this city that every year, just in the normal course of things, we have 100, 200 Legionnaires’ cases. What we typically see is they’re identified, they’re addressed, people get the healthcare they need, and the situation is resolved. That’s what I hope and believe is going to happen at Tracey Towers. It also is a day-to-day, hour-to-hour, thing as they investigate. As we learned from the past they literally have ‘disease detectives’ who go in to try to identify the specific source and make sure it is addressed and resolved.”
Legionnaires’ disease is routinely found in water cooling towers. The largest outbreak happened in 2015 when it claimed at least ten lives across the city.
Editor’s Note: The meeting will be held tonight at 20 Mosholu Parkway S. at 7 p.m.
admin
Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
English
Arabic
Bengali
Chinese (Simplified)
French
Spanish
The article doesn’t indicate if the two patients were associated with each other (and therefore, possibly, got it elsewhere.)
The Health Department is tight-lipped on whether these patients are related.
But the your reporters may be able to find out from the neighbors. It’s still bench-sitting weather 🙂
They dont know each other
See this link for filters validated to block Legionella bacteria available for quick delivery and connection as an immediate barrier for showers and faucets. https://medical.pall.com/en/water-filtration/public-residential-water.html
Christopher Connolly
Manager, Microbial Filtration
+1-973-632-1920 (cell)
chris_connolly@pall.com
my father said that building was made with shit when they were building it as he worked there until the buildings were completed i pray they can fix the problem and not too many are affected
Elevators not working hot water issues, what’s new Tenants know very little what is going on with this legionnaires disease pls provide more information
+no notification were given to building 40, water was just shut off on Monday 9/9/19. Management is not informing tenants of the situation. Information should have been placed under the door of every resident in this development.
Landlords of trace y towers should have never got a tent increase. Water and plumbing problems weekly and daily. Who is stealing maintenance money!