Upper East Side Legionnaires' outbreak climbs to 23 cases, cooling towers under scrutiny

New York City's Health Department reports 23 confirmed Legionnaires' disease cases linked to contaminated cooling towers on Manhattan's Upper East Side, with 17 hospitalizations and no deaths. The illness resembles pneumonia and is contracted via inhaling contaminated water droplets, not by person-to-person spread. Early diagnosis and antibiotics are key; there is no vaccine, and prevention focuses on building water-management measures to curb Legionella growth.