New regulations intended to protect against in cooling towers and healthcare facilities in New York State are now in effect. The regulations require that New York cooling towers be registered, inspected, and tested for , a bacterium that can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a serious respiratory illness that can result in life-threatening pneumonia. The regulation specifies that inspections must be performed by certain professionals, including certified industrial hygienists.

Under the new rules, all general hospitals and residential healthcare facilities will also be required to perform culture sampling and analysis of their drinking water systems. According to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), these new regulations are based on emergency regulations put in place during summer 2015, when 138 residents of the South Bronx were sickened with legionellosis, a respiratory disease caused by . Sixteen people died during the outbreak.

For more information, see the from NYSDOH.