Healthcare and city officials in New York City are trying to pin down reasons for a Legionnaires outbreak in New York City that's infected more than 50 people and killed four people.
A blog post at goodway.com points to an infected cooling tower as a likely candidate for the origin of the breakout. Cooling towers the blog post says, are "the ideal place for Legionella to flourish, and if towers aren't properly treated on a regular basis, bacteria quickly spreads to the potable water supply."
The blog post discusses new ASHRAE guidelines and other health agency best practices to help facilities avoid Legionnaires outbreaks that facility maintenance managers might find helpful. One tip to pass along from the blog: "Develop a daily tower cleaning program which focuses on the removal of scale and dangerous biological buildup.”
