In New York, the threat of a polio epidemic: federal specialists were sent to the state

A federal team was sent to New York to investigate the state's only positive polio case. It was discovered in Rockland County in an unvaccinated adult who suffered from paralysis, reports NBC New York.

Health officials have issued an appeal to the unvaccinated to get vaccinated against the virus. There is new evidence of possible spread among the population.

“The CDC continues to work with the New York State Department of Health in investigating a recent case of polio. Wastewater samples are being tested for poliovirus monitoring. We also sent a small team to New York to provide assistance on the ground,” a spokesman for the CDC confirmed on Sunday.

The polio virus was found in seven sewage samples in two neighboring counties north of New York.

“New Yorkers should know that for every observed case of paralytic polio, hundreds of others could be infected,” State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said Thursday.

“The department views the current case of polio as the tip of the iceberg of a much larger prevalence,” she said. “It is becoming clear that the danger of polio is present in New York today. We must ensure that adults, including pregnant women, and children under 2 months of age are up to date on immunization. We must protect ourselves with a vaccine against this debilitating virus. Every New Yorker needs it.”

On the subject: In New York, the first case of polio in a decade: what you need to know about this terrible disease

A polio patient in Rockland County is the first person to have contracted the virus in the US in over a decade. Wastewater samples collected in June and July in neighboring Orange County also contained the virus.

Polio was eradicated in the United States in 1979. More than two decades after the advent of vaccines.

Most people infected with polio do not have any symptoms.

But they can spread the virus and pass it on to others within days or weeks. A small percentage of people with this disease suffer from paralysis. This disease is fatal in about 5-10% of those paralyzed.

All schoolchildren in New York must be vaccinated against polio. But vaccination rules may not be adequately enforced in some areas. Statewide, about 79% completed the polio vaccination series by two years. In Orange County, the figure is 59%. In Rockland, this figure is 60%.

Orange County sewage samples were originally taken from municipal wastewater treatment plants for testing for COVID-19.

“It is worrying that a disease that was eradicated through vaccination is circulating in our community,” said Orange County Health Commissioner Irina Gelman. "I urge all unvaccinated Orange County residents to get vaccinated as soon as possible."