Good morning. It’s Thursday. Today we’ll look at efforts to identify the source of an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in Harlem that has sickened more than 100 people and killed six. We’ll also get details on new food standards that will affect New York City public schools and hospitals.
Health officials knew the danger was in the air, in the mist emanating from cooling towers far above the Harlem streets.
Unsuspecting people were being showered with microscopic bacteria. Dozens had become sick. Several had died. But which towers were the problem?
“We watch science shows or ‘Law & Order,’ and the same day a murder happens, Mariska Hargitay is in the medical examiner’s office and is like, ‘OK, what’s the verdict?’ and they already know everything,” said Chantal Gomez, a Health Department spokeswoman. “But that’s not reality. The reality is public health takes time.”
My colleagues have been reporting on a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Harlem this summer that has sickened more than 100 people and killed at least six. Hundreds of New Yorkers fall ill each year after inhaling Legionella bacteria, which is typically found in water from cooling systems, streams, creeks and lakes. About a dozen of them die.
This week, Liam Stack, a Metro reporter, wrote about how dozens of scientists raced to track down the source of this latest Harlem outbreak. Here’s what to know.
What is Legionnaires’ disease?
Early symptoms tend to resemble those of the flu: fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, dry cough and shortness of breath, wrote Dani Blum, a New York Times health reporter. People with Legionnaires’ also sometimes develop gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea, said Dr. Emily Abdoler, a clinical associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Michigan Medical School.
It is often confused with other respiratory illnesses, and older people and those with compromised immune systems are the most vulnerable.
How do scientists find the source?
Several outbreaks in New York have been linked to cooling towers. The city tested dozens of towers in Harlem before finding the 12 with traces of Legionella, Liam reported. But the rapid tests used in the initial water analysis cannot discern between living and dead samples, and only living bacteria can cause an infection. If any trace of Legionella is found, the building is ordered to disinfect the tank.
Scientists must find a match between samples of the bacteria taken from the rooftop water tanks and sputum or other material from infected patients.
Patient samples are taken by doctors, who pass them along to the Health Department. The analysis can take weeks.
Bacterial samples are placed in a petri dish for the cultures to grow, and scientists separate the cultured Legionella from any other bacteria in the dish.
Once Legionella is identified, the bacteria are sent to a separate team that sequences their genomes. Then a bioinformatics team tries to match samples from patients to the water tower whose mist made them sick by determining whether several samples belong to the same genomic cluster.
What can you do to avoid getting sick?
Roughly two dozen scientists at the New York City public health lab, in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, track outbreaks of Legionnaires’ and other illnesses, like West Nile virus and salmonella poisoning.
While they keep tabs on all of that, officials say residents should keep an eye on their health. There is no vaccine for Legionnaires’ disease, but most healthy people won’t become sick. If you have symptoms and you live in an area with a known outbreak, you should go to the doctor. Most people who take antibiotics will recover, but some can continue to feel certain symptoms for months.
In general, Dani reported, people can lower their risk by frequently deep-cleaning hot tubs, humidifiers, windshield wiper fluid tanks, shower heads and faucets.
Weather
Expect a cloudy day with a high near 79 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 66.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
In effect until Monday (Labor Day).
The latest Metro news
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Date is set for Penn Station renovation: After decades of planning, the rebuilding of Pennsylvania Station will begin in 2027, federal transportation officials said. Construction of two additional rail tunnels under the Hudson River has already begun and could eventually double the number of trains that pass under the river to Penn Station.
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U.S. attorney is appointed in Brooklyn: Federal judges in Brooklyn formally appointed Joseph Nocella Jr., who had been serving as interim U.S. attorney since May. Nocella will serve until the Senate confirms a candidate, overseeing an office that often handles cases involving violent drug cartels and transnational repression.
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American Dream mall faces lawsuit in New Jersey: The borough of Paramus sued the mall, accusing its owners of brazenly violating a “blue law” that prohibits the selling of items such as lumber, furniture and “wearing apparel” on Sundays in Bergen County.
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Can a multimillion-dollar park save Lower Manhattan?: Wagner Park opened in late July as part of resilience efforts to safeguard Lower Manhattan from rising seas and storms in the coming decades. Opponents questioned the need to replace the original park, which survived Superstorm Sandy.
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The Honey Deuce is still a cash cow: The cherry-blossom-pink vodka cocktail is entering its 18th year as the U.S. Open’s signature drink. During the tournament, the National Tennis Center in Queens becomes the city’s single greatest consumer of honeydew melons.
New city food standards could mean no more chicken nuggets in cafeterias
The Mayor’s Office of Food Policy has released new standards for more than 200 million meals and snacks served by city agencies each year — and it doesn’t look good for chicken nuggets.
My colleague Anna Kodé reported that the standards, which go into effect next summer, ban all processed meats from nearly a dozen agencies, including the Department of Education. Other changes include new restrictions on artificial colors and preservatives, further limits on low-calorie sweeteners and an emphasis on “minimally processed plant protein foods.” The standards apply to public schools and hospitals, and to agencies that serve older adults and homeless people, among others.
The prohibition on processed meat is particularly notable, considering the love that children (and many adults) have for chicken nuggets in all forms — Tyrannosaurus rexes, pterodactyls, stars, boots and circles.
Part of the appeal of chicken in the post-World War II era was that it was marketed as a healthier alternative to red meat, said Steve Striffler, the author of “Chicken: The Dangerous Transformation of America’s Favorite Food” and a professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The chicken nugget was developed in the 1960s by Robert Baker, a poultry science professor at Cornell University. And then in the 1980s, McDonald’s introduced the McNugget to the market.
Around that time, there wasn’t much concern about the healthiness of school lunches, Dr. Striffler added. “It was much more about getting kids fed,” he said.
City health officials said one goal of the new standards is to target chronic illnesses, like diabetes and heart disease, and increase life expectancy.
METROPOLITAN diary
Bee Whisperer
Dear Diary:
A colleague and I went out for lunch at one of our usual spots in Woodside, Queens. After placing our orders, we wanted to sit down at the only available seats, which were near the window.
Then I spotted a bee gently tapping against the inside of the glass. I pointed it out to my colleague, and we decided to give the bee some space and stand nearby instead.
Just then, a father and his young daughter wandered over and eyed the window seats.
The father quickly noticed the bee. He calmly produced a plastic straw and crouched near the window.
What happened next felt almost magical: The bee climbed onto the straw. The father carried the straw outside as his daughter followed along, and then he released the bee, which zipped away.
They came back inside and took the seats by the window.
— Beata Safari
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — S.L.
P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here.
Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
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The post The Race to Trace a Legionnaires’ Outbreak appeared first on New York Times.
