--- title: What to Know About New York's Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak description: The likely sources of the outbreak are cooling towers, health officials say. canonical: https://time.com/7307696/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-nyc/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-05T22:31:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T01:38:19.475Z article:section: Health og:title: What to Know About New York's Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak og:description: The likely sources of the outbreak are cooling towers, health officials say. og:url: https://time.com/7307696/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-nyc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b34e58bc47b242d/6998c8cc25f3ee67f1644e49/GettyImages-2198130450.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2164 og:image:height: 1217 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2198130450.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About New York's Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak twitter:description: The likely sources of the outbreak are cooling towers, health officials say. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b34e58bc47b242d/6998c8cc25f3ee67f1644e49/GettyImages-2198130450.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Know About New York's Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Aug 5, 2025 10:31 PM UTC  New York, USA. 11 10 2019\. Water tower on the roof of an old building on the Prentis Hall building at 632 W 125th St. New York, USA. 11 10 2019\. Water tower on the roof of an old building on the Prentis Hall building at 632 W 125th St. Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Aug 5, 2025 10:31 PM UTC Nearly 60 people have become sick and two have died in an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in New York City. Health officials there issued an [alert](https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/cd/legionnaires-disease-faq-central-harlem.pdf) on July 30 warning residents of Central Harlem who have flu-like symptoms to see a health care provider immediately. Legionnaires' disease is a form of pneumonia caused by the bacteria _Legionella_. (The bacteria and the disease get their name from the first outbreak at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia in 1976.) The bacteria tend to grow in water, including cooling towers that service buildings in the summer, as well as air conditioning systems, hot tubs, and decorative water displays like fountains. About 6,000 cases are reported in the U.S. each year, and about 200 to 800 of these occur in New York City. The likely sources of the current outbreak are cooling towers, the New York City Health Department [said](https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2025/nyc-health-provides-second-legionnaires-cluster-update.page) on Aug. 4, which helps to control the temperature of cooling systems like refrigeration and air conditioning. The tower sprays mist, which can contain the bacteria that people then inhale. So far, the city has detected _Legionella_ in 11 of the towers. The biggest danger is to people who might have been exposed to and inhaled the mist."It is safe for you to drink water, bathe, shower, cook, and use your air conditioner," city health officials said in the alert. Here’s what to know about the disease. ## What are the symptoms of Legionnaires' disease? People exposed to the bacteria generally start showing symptoms two to 14 days later. These are very similar to symptoms for pneumonia, including fever, cough, headaches, and shortness of breath. Some people also have diarrhea or nausea and can show signs of confusion. **Read More**: [_What to Know About the Brain Disease CTE_](https://time.com/7306793/what-is-cte-new-york-shooting/) ## How would I know if I have Legionnaires'? Because the symptoms are similar to those for the flu, most doctors won’t test for the bacteria. But in areas where cases have been reported, such as Harlem, doctors may be more likely to suspect Legionnaires' and can test to distinguish it from pneumonia. They may start with a chest X-ray, to confirm a type of pneumonia, and then move on to more detailed testing with a urine or spit sample to detect the bacteria. ## What causes outbreaks of Legionnaires'? Because the bacteria live in water, any water source can harbor the germs. That includes natural bodies of water like creeks and lakes, as well as cooling towers, fountains, humidifiers or misters, hot tubs, and even the tanks that hold windshield wiper fluid in cars. Warmer temperatures between 77°F and 113°F can help the bacteria reproduce, according to the [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/control-legionella/php/guidance/monitor-water-guidance.html) (CDC), especially in man-made water systems. **Read More**: [_Be Careful Where You Swim This Summer_](https://time.com/7287600/swimming-parasites-water-holes-lakes-bacteria/) The CDC provides guidance on how building operators can guard against outbreaks, by monitoring water and using [disinfectants like chlorine](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/factsheet/chlorination.html) in other potable water systems. Maintaining proper pH of the water to ensure the disinfectants are effective is also critical. People can get infected by coming into contact with the bacteria from one of these sources; the bacteria commonly spread in particles as fine as water mist or vapor. ## Is Legionnaires' contagious? No, the bacteria does not spread from person to person. ## Are there treatments for Legionnaires'? There is no vaccine, but certain antibiotics can treat the infection. Not everyone who is exposed will get sick, but people who are older and those with weakened immune systems are more likely to experience symptoms and may even require hospitalization if breathing becomes difficult. According to the CDC, about [one in 10](https://www.cdc.gov/legionella/about/index.html) people who get Legionnaires' will die from complications of the disease. ## How can I protect myself from Legionnaires'? There isn’t much individuals can do to change personal or shared plumbing systems, but they can regularly clean things that come into contact with water like hot tubs, shower heads, and faucets to make it difficult for the bacteria to grow. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7307696/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-nyc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7307696/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-nyc/"},"headline":"What to Know About New York's Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak","datePublished":"2025-08-05T22:31:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T01:38:19.475Z","description":"The likely sources of the outbreak are cooling towers, health officials say.","url":"https://time.com/7307696/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-nyc/","keywords":["Public Health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b34e58bc47b242d/6998c8cc25f3ee67f1644e49/GettyImages-2198130450.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b34e58bc47b242d/6998c8cc25f3ee67f1644e49/GettyImages-2198130450.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2198130450.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7307696/legionnaires-disease-outbreak-nyc/","name":"What to Know About New York's Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak"}}]}] ```