Guggenheim Museum among NYC buildings that tested positive for Legionnaires’ amid disease outbreak
New York City’s famous Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum was among several Manhattan buildings that recently tested positive for the bacteria. Causes Legionnaires’ disease in the midst of the city’s latest outbreak.
On Friday, the city health department released a statement. List of 31 buildings Orders have been issued to clean and disinfect cooling towers on the Upper East Side as the city deals with the latest outbreak of the disease, a serious form of pneumonia.
The distinctive, cylindrical art museum was among 19 museums that completed the upgrade, according to the department’s list. The rest were expected to complete the work by Saturday.
City officials emphasized that positive test results do not confirm that any building was the source of the outbreak, as the tests could not distinguish between live and dead bacteria.
They also said the museum has never been closed due to positive tests or remediation efforts.
“The city has confirmed that no additional action is required at this time and this does not pose a risk to anyone inside the building,” the museum said in a statement Saturday. he said, noting that the cooling tower has an outside company that carries out regular monthly testing and operations.
The Guggenheim was designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site as one of the defining architectural works of the 20th century.
More than 50 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease in connection with the Upper East Side cluster, and fewer than 20 of them remain hospitalized. latest data from the city health department. No deaths have been reported so far.
seven people died and last year, more than 100 people were sickened during a major outbreak in Harlem’s upper Manhattan borough that was traced to cooling towers above Harlem Hospital and a nearby construction site housing the city’s public health laboratory.
Legionella bacteria often grow in warm water and can spread in building water systems such as shower heads, whirlpools, and cooling towers.
The structures are usually located at the top of buildings and control the temperature of systems such as refrigeration but do not affect drinking water or the building’s indoor air or air conditioning.
Legionnaires’ disease is not transmitted from person to person. People usually contract this disease by breathing in contaminated water droplets.
Symptoms usually appear two days to two weeks after exposure and include cough, fever, headache, muscle aches and shortness of breath, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
People are at higher risk of contracting Legionnaires’ disease if they are 50 or older, smoke or vape, have chronic lung disease, or have a weakened immune system.
The respiratory condition is named after an outbreak that affected attendees of the American Legion convention in Philadelphia in 1976.
