Public health experts have expressed concern over a dramatic decline in inspections for legionella bacteria preceding a recent outbreak in Harlem that's killed three people and hospitalized more than 20 others.

A Gothamist analysis found the city has conducted fewer and fewer inspections each year since Mayor Eric Adams took office. This year, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is on track to complete just half the number of inspections it did in 2022. That year it inspected 4,443 cooling towers, which can spread legionella, and issued more than 2,900 violations to building owners. The health department blamed staffing shortages for the decrease.

Janet Stout, a University of Pittsburgh professor specializing in prevention of Legionnaires’ disease, said regulations enact

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