NY Yankees say Legionella bacteria found in cooling tower not linked to outbreak

Key Points:

• Legionella bacteria, which can cause potentially fatal Legionnaires' disease, were detected in a cooling tower at Yankee Stadium and nine other towers in the Bronx amid a cluster of cases including one death.
• The New York City Health Department is conducting further tests to determine if the bacteria found are live, as only live bacteria can cause the disease; the Yankees stated no current cases have been linked to the stadium.
• Ten people in the South Bronx have tested positive for Legionnaires' disease, with three hospitalized, prompting authorities to order immediate cleaning and disinfection of the affected cooling towers.
• The Yankees installed new cooling towers in 2024, which undergo weekly testing with recent results negative for Legionella, though the city uses a different testing method; the team emphasized no games have been postponed due to the outbreak.
• Legionnaires’ disease is treatable but has a mortality rate of about 10%, and outbreaks have occurred previously in New York, including a recent one on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that resulted in 11 deaths and multiple contaminated cooling towers.