3 dead and at least 67 sick from growing Legionnaires' disease cluster in New York City

NEW YORK -- Three people have died and at least 67 people have been diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease in a cluster that broke out in the Harlem area of New York City last week, officials said in an update on Tuesday.

Last week, when the New York City Health Department announced the cluster of cases, officials said one person had died and 22 people were sick.

The cases are clustered in five ZIP codes in central Harlem, the health department said, and a spokesperson said the outbreak is not expected to spread to other communities.

"People living or working in the area with flu-like symptoms, such as cough, fever, chills, muscle aches, or difficulty breathing should contact a health care provider immediately," the department said in an earlier statement on Monday. "It is especially important for people at higher risk -- including those ages 50 and older, cigarette smokers, and people with chronic lung disease or compromised immune systems -- to get care if they have symptoms."

Legionnaires' disease is a type of pneumonia that is caused by the bacteriaLegionella, which grows in warm water, health officials said, and people can get Legionnaires' disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionellabacteria.

In the update on Tuesday, the health department said, "This is not an issue with any building's plumbing system. Residents in these ZIP codes can continue to drink water, bathe, shower, cook, and use your air conditioner."

The New York City Health Department said earlier it was investigating the cluster and said that "the remediation required by the Department has been completed for the 11 cooling towers with initial positive screening results showing the presence of Legionella pneumophila, a type of bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease."

Legionnaires' disease can be caused by plumbing systems where conditions are favorable forLegionellagrowth, such as cooling towers, whirlpool spas, hot tubs, humidifiers, hot water tanks and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, health officials said.

People can get Legionnaires' disease by breathing in water vapor that contains Legionella bacteria, but the disease does not generally spread from person to person and can be treated with antibiotics.

The respiratory disease takes its name from an outbreak at the Pennsylvania American Legion convention held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia in July 1976 and the bacterium believed to be responsible is found in soil and grows in water, such as air-conditioning ducts, storage tanks and rivers.

No details about the three people who died have been released by officials as of Tuesday.