MELROSE — The city found and disinfected three additional buildings at Melrose Houses over the weekend that tested positive for the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease.
The Department of Health began investigating the disease at Melrose Houses after two residents in the same building got sick. Initially, they found legionella bacteria, which causes the disease, only at 681 Courtlandt Ave.
NYCHA then installed filters to the faucets and shower heads in all 109 apartments at 681 Courtlandt Ave., along with a building-wide water ionization system that kills the bacteria.
On Friday, test results showed that Melrose buildings at 304 E. 156th St., 320 E. 156th St. and 346 E. 156th St. were infected with legionella as well.
Although the first set of samples at 304 E. 156th St. tested negative, some additional samples tested positive, according to the Health Department.
NYCHA shut off hot water to these three buildings on Friday evening and installed ionization systems for each of them on Saturday.
Hot water was restored to each building by Saturday afternoon, and residents were told they could drink, shower and bathe using both hot and cold New York City water as usual.
Since NYCHA knew that more potentially positive test results for Legionnaires' disease were coming after the city's initial finding at 681 Courtlandt Ave., the agency pre-ordered additional ionization systems that were already on their way to them when the later results came back.
The agency installed ionization systems at the three East 156th Street buildings instead of installing filters. Workers had installed filters at 681 Courtlandt Ave. because they did not want residents to be without hot water while they waited for the ionization system to arrive.
The remaining five buildings at Melrose Houses all tested negative, according to the Health Department.
The cases of Legionnaires 'disease at Melrose Houses come on the heels of the worst outbreak of the illness in New York City history, which killed 12 and sickened more than 120 people.
The city declared an end to that outbreak on Aug. 20, but Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday that the recent case still could be linked to it.
