A person has died in New York after contracting Legionnaires’ disease, local health departments announced in a statement Friday.
• Also read: Gatineau: 14 cases of Legionnaires’ disease detected in the Aylmer sector
The New York City Health Department also specifies that 67 cases have been confirmed in the Upper East Side neighborhood and that 12 people are hospitalized.
He also ordered the cleaning and disinfection of 76 buildings, including the Met Museum, which tested positive for the bacteria behind this disease.
Haze from Canadian wildfires shrouds the Manhattan skyline, seen from the Top of the Rock lookout, July 16, 2026 in New York.
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Legionnaires’ disease is a serious lung infection caused by the Legionella bacteria, with a case fatality rate of 9%.
Contamination can occur through water or through the respiratory route, through microdroplets suspended in the air. The disease is not contagious from person to person.
The New York City Health Department invites anyone experiencing flu symptoms — fever, chills, body aches, cough — to seek medical attention.
The disease takes its name from the first known cases, which occurred in 1976 at a Philadelphia hotel where the American Legion Veterans Association was holding a conference. Thirty-four people then died.
