Outbreak Of Legionnaires' Disease Detected In Flushing

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - There's a Legionnaires' outbreak in Flushing, Queens.

The Department of Health confirms 12 cases of the disease in Downtown Flushing in the last two weeks.

The patients range in age from the early 30s to the late 80s.

Officials say two more cases are under investigation to determine whether they are part of the cluster.

The Health Department is taking water samples from all cooling towers in the zone to test for Legionella bacteria, which causes the disease.

Symptoms include fever, cough, chills and muscle ache.

"It makes me a little worried because my daughter is sick now," one man said. "I'm gonna check with my pediatrician, see what they say."

Aside from saying downtown Flushing is affected, the health department isn't being overly specific about where the infected patients live or work.

"We're not giving streets, not giving you a border because we want people in the area not to say 'oh, I live north of the area, so I'm not going to worry about my cough and fever'," Dr. Demetre Daskalakis from the department of health said.

The city started regular, mandatory inspections of cooling systems after a deadly outbreak in the South Bronx two years ago. Until results come back on this latest outbreak, the health department reminds people Legionnaires' is not spread person to person.

Of the 12 patients treated, seven have been discharged from the hospital while five remain.

For more information about Legionnaires' disease, click here.