Legionella bacteria typically multiply in warm water environments and spread through building water systems like hot tubs, showerheads, and cooling towers.
These rooftop structures regulate temperatures for refrigeration and building systems, meaning they do not affect indoor air conditioning or drinking water.
Medical experts emphasize that Legionnaires' disease cannot spread from person to person. Individuals contract the infection by inhaling microscopic droplets of water contaminated with the bacteria.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms like fever, cough, headaches, muscle aches, and shortness of breath appear two days to two weeks after exposure.
The risk increases for people aged 50 or older, smokers, vapers, those with weakened immune systems, or chronic lung conditions.
The current situation follows a major outbreak last year in Harlem where seven people died and more than 100 became ill.
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That cluster was linked to contaminated cooling towers at Harlem Hospital and a nearby public health laboratory construction site.
