If the legionnaires’ disease had not affected so many people and become such a massive outbreak in such a short period, officials wouldn’t have commenced the necessary action to curb it in time.

The general public, especially the people who live in Bronx, were the ones who suffered the most. Over 86 people have been diagnosed with the disease so far and recent reports indicate that the number is steadily increasing despite meticulous efforts triggered by the New York City health department.

At least seven people, who were identified to be infected by the disease, died in South Bronx. The big question that the residents have at the moment is why the officials delayed the treatment and eradication methods for so long. They have a common opinion that if they responded to the bacteria as soon as it occurred, a lot of people could have been saved and the total infected number would have never risen to such huge proportions.

In response to the situation, Mayor de Biasio has passed a new legislation. Health authorities in association with the local teams will start investigating all large units in buildings and de-contaminate every cooling tower that is infected by the bacteria. Recently, health experts concluded that the legionnaires’ disease spread through contaminated water. It doesn’t spread through consumption of water, but rather in the moisture found near the cooling towers, air conditioning units and water displacement setups.

With tens of thousands of cooling towers in the city, it is nearly impossible for the city officials to analyze them all and fix them in a short period. However, they will commence the action to support the new legislation.

“A complete registry with every building in the city equipped with a cooling tower will be prepared. The legislation will favor this after which regular inspections of all the buildings will be conducted,” said the Mayor.

Any building that doesn’t meet the health guidelines and are disobeying the law will be severely penalized so that the mistake is not repeated. A total of 17 towers have been tested so far out of which 5 were found to be infected and de-contaminated.

“The government should take responsibility and protect every citizen irrespective of their social status. The common sense proposal will ensure it happens from now. The legionnaires’ disease has been steadily affecting people since 2002, mostly the poorer lot. A proper inspection could have saved plenty of lives”, said Ruben Diaz, President of Bronx Borough.