By Tiffany Cusaac-Smithtiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_CusaacUpdated July 28, 2026 5:38 pm
A cooling tower atop the state Supreme Court building in Riverhead tested positive on Monday for bacteria responsible for Legionnaires’ disease — a serious form of pneumonia that was recently linked to five deaths during a New York City outbreak
There is “no threat to public health,” Suffolk County spokesman Michael Martino stressed, of the positive Legionella test that was taken for routine mandatory state screening
The contaminated air did not circulate through the court building, county health officials said in a statement. And the cooling tower, utilized only to cool refrigerant for a closed-loop system, was disinfected Tuesday and will be rescreened in 3-7 days
“Out of an abundance of caution, all outside air intake dampers have been shut down,” and “we are notifying staff of this test result,” the Suffolk County Health Department said in the statement
Although found in the wild, Legionella thrives in warm water like hot water tanks, hot tubs and cooling towers, officials said. People can then become sickened after inhaling bacteria-laden mists
Humans cannot spread the bacteria to other individuals, the state Department of Health said on its website. Healthy people tend not to be sickened from it, though those 50 and older or with existing health conditions like cancer or kidney failure can fall ill
The disease can bring about flu-like conditions like high fever and cough that typically appear within a week and a half after contact with the bacteria, officials said
In New York City, a community cluster in the Upper East Side this summer was associated with five deaths and 90 positive tests, health officials said. Roughly 70 people were hospitalized; seven remain so. Dozens of cooling towers in the Manhattan neighborhood have been cleaned after testing positive for the live Legionella bacteria, officials said
No additional cases have been found since July 17, and city officials believe the root of the outbreak has been removed
Newsday’s Joe Werkmeister contributed to this story
By Tiffany Cusaac-Smithtiffany.cusaac-smith@newsday.com@T_Cusaac
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith is a general assignment reporter for Newsday. She previously worked at USA TODAY and is an alum of Howard University
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