There is currently an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Union County, New Jersey. The source of infection has not yet been identified. However, based on past cases that we have worked on we believe it is possible that the source of this outbreak could be cooling towers. In July and August 2015, there was an outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease in the Bronx that claimed 12 lives and infected at least 128 people. The outbreak caused widespread concern and weeks of uncertainty among residents. Thanks to the hard work of epidemiologists and investigators, the source of the outbreak was identified: a cooling tower in the area. In cooling tower cases, all a person has to do to be infected is walk down the sidewalk near a cooling tower. The victims are then exposed to contaminated water droplets that fall from the towers above them. That’s what happened to our plaintiffs in the Bronx outbreak. In cases like this, there are often clusters of cases. In July of 2015, the New York Department of Health was made aware of the hundred or so cases of Legionnaires’ Disease in a single area of the city. They then conducted an investigation and determined the source of this huge outbreak was in fact cooling towers. Significant cooling tower regulations were passed in New York City in 2015 because of this outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease. In the current New Jersey Outbreak, at least 14 have been infected and one person has died. While this not on the same scale as the 2015 outbreak in the Bronx, it is still possible a cooling tower could be at fault. The next step in this outbreak would be for investigators to turn to clinical testing. They can confirm any suspicions about potential cooling tower sources by comparing the specific bacteria that inhabits the cooling towers around the outbreak area with the bacteria inhabiting the lungs of the victims. If you have been affected by this outbreak, contact Jules Zacher here for a 100% free consultation. THE MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE HAVE BEEN PREPARED BY JULES ZACHER, P.C. FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT LEGAL ADVICE OR A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL COUNSEL.