NYC officials claim worst of Legionnaires’ disease outbreak is over — even as top doc says ‘we have more work to do’

The worst of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that killed three people and sickened several dozen is over, Big Apple officials predicted Thursday – even as the city’s top doc acknowledged “we have more work to do.”

At least 24 people remained hospitalized nearly two weeks after the cluster of pneumonia-like illnesses was first detected in Harlem, with five zip codes affected, city health officials said.

“Our expectation is that there’s no further bacteria in the air at this point so we can expect the cases to go down,” interim Health Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse said at a news conference.

“This is my top priority right now. Three deaths is unacceptable and we know we have more work to do.”

Morse said 11 cooling towers had been scrubbed clean in order to stop the illness from spreading — but city officials wouldn’t say which buildings had the troubled structures, arguing they didn’t want to give anyone a false sense of security.

“I don’t want anyone to be concerned that if they’re in one building or another they may be more or less at risk,” Morse said.

“From our perspective, it’s really important that everyone in the five zip codes understand that they may be at risk.” 

The areas where cases have been confirmed are in five Harlem zip codes: 10027, 10030, 10035, 10037, and 10039, along with the bordering communities, according to the city Department of Health.

DOH officials said there were 81 confirmed as of Thursday – a slight uptick from the previous day.

People can catch Legionnaires’ disease from bacterial droplets that come from water systems like cooling towers and are breathed in.

It can take between 12 to 14 days from exposure to the droplets to start feeling sick, according to Morse.  

The disease isn’t spread person-to-person, she noted.

Morse cautioned people for now should remain vigilant if they start feeling sick, though she stressed the city has treated the cooling towers that tested positive for Legionella bacteria.

Local elected officials on hand in front of the Adam Clayton Powell statue urged Harlem residents to seek medical help if they are beginning to feel under the weather. The illness can be treatable if caught early enough.

“This is not the time to say, let me just go to the grocery store and get some ginger ale and let me lay up somewhere,” Councilman Yusef Salaam said. “This is the time for you to actually go and seek medical attention. That’s how serious this is.”

State Sen. Cordell Cleare, who represents the neighborhood, introduced legislation on Wednesday in hopes of limiting cases going forward.

She wants cooling towers inspected twice a year instead of once and building owners to tackle detected maintenance problem within 24 hours instead of a 48-hour timeframe.

“Building maintenance shouldn’t cost people their lives,” Cleare told The Post Thursday.

“Three deaths, one death is too many” the pol said at the press conference, adding, “one of the things that’s very important for us to do is examine and find out why this keeps popping up in black and brown communities.”

Cleare also said she wants clarity on where the 11 troubled cooling towers are located in the area, but city officials haven’t provided that information to her.

City officials said they aren’t identifying exact buildings because the issue is in the air — which could affect a wider area — and is not in the water of the buildings.

The buildings’ water is safe to bathe and cook with, the officials added.