Eighth Person Dies In UES Legionnaires' Outbreak, Lawyer Says

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An eighth person has died in connection with the Legionnaires' disease outbreak on the Upper East Side, a lawyer for the victim's family said Friday.

"Today, my client’s family suffered the tragic and needless loss of a loved one," Ronald Katter, who represents 11 families who are preparing lawsuits against the building owners responsible for the outbreak, said.

"He battled Legionnaires’ disease for more than four weeks on life support in a hospital ICU and died just as he was about to be discharged to a skilled nursing facility," Katter said.

Katter said the man was 92 years old and died early Thursday morning.

According to the New York City Department of Health, the outbreak started on July 2 has now been linked to 92 cases of Legionnaires' disease and seven deaths.

The outbreak has been concentrated in the Upper East Side ZIP codes 10028, 10075 and 10128, where the city spent the past month testing cooling towers and ordering the disinfection of those that screened positive for Legionella bacteria.

All of the towers that tested positive have since been sanitised. There have been no new cases since July 22.

Health officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story and will be updated. For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.