G overnor Kathy Hochul defended New York City's response to the Legionnaires ' disease outbreak after officials on Tuesday confirmed the death toll had risen to five.

NEW YORK -- A fifth person has died in connection with a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City, health officials said. The outbreak in Central Harlem has sickened dozens since it began in late July and the latest death was announced late Monday night. Fourteen people were hospitalized as of Monday, according to the health department.

Rainwater left untreated in cooling towers atop city-owned Harlem Hospital fueled the Big Apple’s deadliest Legionnaire’s disease outbreak in a decade, the Rev. Al Sharpton charged Tuesday.

Legionnaires’ disease is a rare condition, and incidence is hard to estimate because diagnosis requires a suspicion of disease and ordering of the tests needed for confirmation, said Krishna Thavarajah, MD, a pulmonologist and director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, in an interview.