The Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Central Harlem has been linked to a fifth death, the city health department said Monday, equaling the toll from an outbreak at a nursing home in 2022.

William Fowler, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, said the latest casualty was not a new death. Rather, it stemmed from investigators' conclusively linking an earlier death to the disease. The city said 108 people had been sickened, up from 101 reported on Friday, and 14 remained hospitalized.

The update follows word from the city last week that 12 water cooling towers in Central Harlem, scattered across 10 properties, had tested positive for Legionella, the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia. Legionella is spread by water droplets and vapors from contaminated wa

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