Fourth person dies from Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Manhattan

[00:00:00]A fourth person has now died in the Upper East Side Legionnaires' disease outbreak. Meantime, an attorney for the family of an 88-year-old man wants answers, as does a member of the City Council. Pix 11's Eileen Le Palmer joining us now live on the Upper East Side with that part of the story. Hi, Eileen.

[00:00:20]>> Hi, Shirley. That 88-year-old man was an Air Force veteran. His widow expected to speak with the media tomorrow, but tonight the family's attorney is saying they plan to sue when the city determines specifically which cooling tower caused this outbreak.

[00:00:37]>> The outcome is worse than where you can imagine.

[00:00:41]>> Ron Katter represents the widow of an 88-year-old Air Force veteran who died after a 2-week battle with Legionnaires' disease. His wife of 50 years found him sick in their apartment on July 2nd.

[00:00:53]>> She had gone out to take care of an errand and when and left him sitting at a table in their apartment next to an open window, and he was just reading magazine, paying his bills, not doing too much. And when she returned, he wasn't feeling well, and he had a very high fever of 104°.

[00:01:11]>> On Monday night, the city's health department updated that four people have now died of Legionnaires' disease with a total of 76 sickened. Katter says the Legionnaires' bacteria was not found in his client's building in the East 70s, but it was found in 76 other cooling towers on the Upper East Side.

[00:01:31]>> And when you looked out that window where he was sitting, you could see the roofs of other buildings with cooling towers on them, and their fans spinning around.

[00:01:39]>> Katter plans to sue the building's owner when the health department determines exactly which cooling tower is the culprit. A DNA test is pending.

[00:01:49]>> It's as if they were dispersing a poisonous gas from the roof of their building.

[00:01:54]And that's what it is.

[00:01:54]>> We believe that we have now eliminated the source of exposure.

[00:01:57]>> Mayor Bill saying the city acted quickly starting the testing on more than 100 nearby buildings after just two reported cases.

[00:02:07]>> We directed every building with an initial positive test result to immediately clean and disinfect its cooling tower.

[00:02:13]>> Natalie Exum at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says Legionella bacteria is tough to find and eliminate.

[00:02:22]>> When it's not treated properly This is when these bacteria grow in biofilm.

[00:02:28]These bacteria can kind of hide out, right? And that biofilm creates a protective layer between them and even the chemical disinfectant that's intended to kill them.

[00:02:43]>> And City Council Speaker Julie Menin and others will be holding a news conference tomorrow as well. They want answers on a reported shortage of water testers at the Department of Health. They also want to come up with better ways to do that testing and stricter enforcement. We're live here on the Upper East Side. Eileen La Palma, PIX11 News.