Legionnaires’ disease cluster in New York City grows to 36 cases
Illustration of Legionella pneumophila bacteria, the cause of Legionnaires’ disease. ( ROGER HARRIS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Legionnaires’ disease cluster in New York City is growing, with 36 cases now confirmed, according to health officials.
As of Wednesday, there have been at least 22 hospitalizations and no deaths, according to the New York City Department of Health (NYC Health).
The cluster has affected the Upper East Side neighborhoods of Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, the department said.
In an earlier notice to the two neighborhoods, NYC Health said it believes the likely source of the bacteria is a cooling tower in the area, which sprays a mist that contains the bacteria. All area cooling towers were being tested for the bacteria, NYC Health said then.
There is no issue with any building’s plumbing system and residents in the affected areas can continue to drink tap water, bathe, shower, cook and use their air conditioners, NYC Health further said in the notice.
On Tuesday, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was implementing measures to publicly identify the specific buildings suspected as being sources of Legionella bacteria and require owners to clean cooling towers quickly.
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling the Legionella bacteria in small droplets of water mixed in the air or by contaminated water otherwise entering the lungs.
The bacteria are found naturally in fresh water but in amounts that generally don’t lead to disease. The bacteria typically grow best in warm water and in warm to hot temperatures, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The disease does not generally spread from person to person but infections can occur if the bacteria get into a building’s water supply, including in shower heads, sink faucets, hot water tanks, heaters, cooling towers and other plumbing systems.
Legionnaires’ disease has increased in prevalence over the last decade, reaching a peak in the U.S. of 2.71 cases per 100,000 in 2018, the CDC said. Cases declined during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and then rebounded in 2021.
Although most people recover from Legionnaires’ disease with antibiotics, certain patients – including those who are immunocompromised or who suffer from chronic lung diseases – can develop complications that can be fatal.
About one out of every 10 people who develop Legionnaires’ disease will die due to complications, according to the CDC. Among those who develop Legionnaires’ disease at a healthcare facility, about one of every four people will die, the CDC says.
A sign outside a mobile clinic offering measles and flu vaccinations on February 6, 2026 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A few months ago, a measles outbreak seemed poised to overwhelm the northern region of South Carolina.
More than 100 infections were being reported every week, with the total eventually surpassing that of last year’s record-setting outbreak in Texas.
However, after six months and nearly 1,000 cases, the outbreak took a dramatic turn in the right direction.
Over the weekend, the South Carolina Department of Public Health said no new cases had been confirmed for 42 days, leading to an announcement on Monday that the outbreak is officially over.
Public health experts told ABC News that the combination of a strong vaccination push, people following isolation and quarantine orders and an awareness campaign helped beat back the disease.
“Measles vaccinations [were] the most effective single containment tool,” Dr. James Harber, an internal medicine physician with Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, told ABC News. “And then to identify the index cases and their exposures and enforcing quarantine, and there’s that integrated public health and private sector collaboration. Those are the keys.”
Vaccination push
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends people receive two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine — the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old.
One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.
In Spartanburg County — the epicenter of the outbreak in northwestern South Carolina — 88.9% of students had the required immunizations needed to attend school, among the lowest in the state, according to state health department data.
This is lower than the 95% threshold needed to achieve herd immunity.
In the wider Upstate region of South Carolina, some pockets have much lower vaccination rates. State data shows that, for the 2025-2026 school year, one elementary and middle school only had 17% of students with the required immunizations.
Of the 997 cases during the outbreak, 932 were among unvaccinated individuals who were mostly under the age of 17, state data shows. Experts told ABC News that a vaccination campaign helped play a big role in reigning in cases.
“We believe vaccination is one of the primary reasons this outbreak came to an end,” Dr. Brannon Traxler, deputy director of health promotion and services and chief medical officer at the state health department, told ABC News. “Thousands of people got vaccinated. An additional 3,788 doses of MMR were administered in Spartanburg County during the six months of the outbreak compared to the previous year.”
Traxler said that 15,000 additional doses were administered in the Upstate counties over this period competed to the year prior.
She added that January and February were record months for MMR vaccination in the state.
The health department does not track vaccine exemptions at the individual level, but Spartanburg Regional Medical Center’s Harber believes some vaccine-hesitant parents were encouraged to vaccinate their children — even those with previous exemptions on file — as the outbreak grew and their kids were exposed to the virus.
“I think the numbers … speak to the idea that that definitely happened,” he said. “Parents and/or young people who have historically requested and been granted exemptions and not been vaccinated saw what was happening within the community and then changed their minds.”
People following isolation, quarantine orders
South Carolina health authorities first confirmed the outbreak on Oct. 2, 2025, after eight cases were recorded in the Upstate region.
Most cases were recorded in Spartanburg County, with some confirmed in neighboring Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville and Pickens counties.
Only two other counties that didn’t border the epicenter saw measles cases: Lancaster County in the north central area and Sumter County in the central area.
Harber said that people generally followed health officials’ orders about quarantine and isolation, which helped keep the outbreak under control
“I think that’s probably the second most important part, the very aggressive quarantine and exposure control when index cases were identified,” he said. “They were very quickly provided with information around isolation and what they needed to do — staying away from others and to help prevent that spread.”
Harber said more than 2,000 quarantine orders were issued and almost 900 students stayed home when they tested positive across 33 schools in the Upstate region.
“That rapid identification and isolation of the suspected cases .. once they were confirmed really helped to prevent that secondary spread that is such a big problem because of how contagious [measles] really is,” he said. “So, we really had great compliance especially within families and that really helped shorten transmission window based on all the data we have.”
Awareness campaigns
Traxler said the state health department conducted wide-range outreach in Spartanburg County and surrounding areas to “educate the public about the facts regarding measles and the outbreak as well as to encourage people to consider being vaccinated to get long-term protection against the virus.”
She noted that the department communicated with schools, churches, community-based organizations, community leaders, local health care professionals and other organizations.
Traxler added that the health department offered vaccinations at mobile health units at libraries, churches and other locations, where workers also distributed educational materials.
Ukrainian and Russian-speaking communities in South Carolina were hard hit by measles during the outbreak, and so the health department translated measles fact sheets and vaccine information into Ukrainian and Russian, as well as Spanish, Traxler said.
However, just because the outbreak is over doesn’t mean the work is done, she added.
Other states are continuing to see measles cases and the U.S. is currently at risk of losing its elimination status, which it earned in 2000. Measles would once again be considered endemic or constantly circulating.
“The outbreak is over, but our work to understand and prevent measles is not. Large outbreaks of measles, and other infectious diseases, can be prevented entirely when vaccine coverage in the population is very high,” Traxler said.
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District across from Wigwam Stadium on February 27, 2025 in Seminole, Texas. (Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — With a busy travel season approaching, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning that additional measles cases in the U.S. can be expected over the next few months.
The agency sent the alert to state and local health departments, reminding them to report measles cases to the CDC within 24 hours and to have measles cases reported in hospitals and to public health authorities.
The CDC has encouraged public health departments to conduct contact tracing for exposed individuals as well as perform outreach to under-vaccinated communities.
“With continued measles transmission in areas across North America and expected increases in international and domestic travel and large events during spring and summer, additional measles cases are anticipated in the coming months,” the alert reads.
Parents should ensure they and their loved ones are protected against measles before traveling, the CDC says. This includes getting vaccinated against measles at least two weeks before leaving.
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is typically given in two doses, the first at 12 to 15 months old and the second between ages four and six. One dose is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective against measles, according to the CDC.
Those traveling to or living in an outbreak area may be eligible for an earlier vaccine between 6 and 11 months old, the CDC says. This additional shot would be followed by the typical two doses for a total of three doses.
After returning home from travel from an area with measles, travelers should look out for measles symptoms for three weeks and contact their doctor if they experience symptoms or think they may have been exposed, the CDC advises.
The alert comes as cases continue to be recorded across the U.S. So far this year, there have been 1,782 cases nationwide, according to CDC data.
Cases have been reported in 36 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
About 92% of cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, CDC data shows.
Meanwhile, 4% of cases are among those who have received just one dose of the MMR vaccine and 4% of cases are among those who received the recommended two doses, according to the CDC.
Last year, the U.S. recorded 2,288 measles cases, which is the highest number of national cases in 33 years, according to the CDC.
More than a year ago, health officials confirmed that cases of measles were cropping up in a small town in western Texas. It’s unclear if those cases are linked to those reported in other states; if so, it would mean the U.S. has seen a year of continuous transmission.
If it’s determined that the U.S. has experienced 12 months of continuous measles transmission, it could lead to a loss of the country’s elimination status that was earned in 2000. Measles would once again be considered endemic or constantly circulating.
The Food and Drug Administration headquarters is shown in White Oak, Md. (Al Drago/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images, FILE)
(NEW YORK) — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Auvelity this week for the treatment of agitation in adults with Alzheimer’s dementia.
The extended-release tablet is the first FDA-approved medication for this condition that is not an anti-psychotic.
Anti-psychotics carry serious risks including stroke, sedation and increased death in older adults, according to the FDA. Having a non-antipsychotic option may be safer for patients, experts say.
“We’ve needed a drug like this for decades, because agitation related to Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most challenging, disheartening symptoms that we manage,” Dr. Richard Issacson, director of research at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida, told ABC News. “This new drug would be used because their tolerability profile is better.”
Auvelity was initially approved by the FDA in 2022 to treat major depressive disorder in adults. It carries a boxed warning for a higher risk of suicidal thoughts in teens and young adults taking antidepressants.
However, two recent randomized clinical trials found that the drug improved agitation symptoms in patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease based on caregiver reports and survey data, and helped delay relapse compared to a placebo.
Studies show the drug works by affecting brain chemicals such as glutamate and dopamine to help calm the overactive signals in the brain linked to agitation. Reported side effects include dizziness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, sweating and diarrhea.
The FDA cautions that Auvelity can worsen or reveal suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially when starting the medication. It may also worsen irritability or mania in some patients. It’s additionally been linked to an increased risk for seizures, especially at higher doses, and may increase blood pressure.
Clinicians should closely monitor patients when initiating this treatment and throughout the treatment course, experts advise.
As of 2026, about 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. This number is expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2060.
Studies show the drug works by affecting brain chemicals such as glutamate and dopamine to help calm the overactive signals in the brain linked to agitation. Reported side effects include dizziness, nausea, headache, dry mouth, sweating and diarrhea.
The FDA cautions that Auvelity can worsen or reveal suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially when starting the medication. It may also worsen irritability or mania in some patients. It’s additionally been linked to an increased risk for seizures, especially at higher doses, and may increase blood pressure.
Clinicians should closely monitor patients when initiating this treatment and throughout the treatment course, experts advise.
As of 2026, about 7.4 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. This number is expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2060.
Agitation is one of the most common and burdensome symptoms for those with Alzheimer’s dementia. A JAMA Neurology study found that 50 to 60% of people with Alzheimer’s experience agitation symptoms at some point.
Issacson said there needs to be more hope for Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones.
“We also know that it’s not just about drugs. People can exercise, live a healthy lifestyle, eat a Mediterranean style diet, and manage risk factors like blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes,” Issacson said. “People can really take control of their brain health, reduce their risk of Alzheimer’s and have better treatment outcomes. There’s hope and there’s so much education and information now online. I think we’re making a lot of progress.”
Dr. Crystal Joseph, MD, MS is an anesthesiology resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
