Latest New York LD outbreak infects 56
12th July 2026
USA: The Guggenheim Museum is one of 31 buildings with cooling towers that tested positive for the presence of legionella bacteria during New York City’s latest legionnaire’s disease outbreak.
The outbreak in the city’s Upper East Side neighbourhoods of Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, which was first reported on July 3, has resulted in the identification of 56 cases. Of these, 47 required hospital attention and 16 people are still in hospital. There have been no deaths connected to the outbreak.
The NYC Health Department has collected water samples from more than 180 cooling towers. As of July 9th, testing had identified 31 buildings with positive results for legionella bacteria.
The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum at 1071 Fifth Ave, with its iconic spiral design by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was amongst the 31 buildings that tested positive. Cooling towers at the Gugenheim have since been treated and nine remaining buildings on the list were due to have been treated by yesterday.
As symptoms can develop up to 14 days after exposure, the NYC Health Department expects additional cases may still be identified after the source of exposure has been eliminated.
PCR testing is ongoing and additional buildings may be added to the list. Because PCR testing cannot distinguish between live and dead bacteria, these results do not confirm that the buildings are the source of exposure.
