Polio found in New York sewage as state requires vaccinations

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WASHINGTON — The poliovirus was present a month before a confirmed case of the disease was announced in the sewage of a New York City suburb last month, state health officials said Monday, urging residents to make sure they were vaccinated.

The discovery of the disease from sewage samples collected in June means the virus was present in the community before the Rockland County adult’s diagnosis was released on July 21.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an emailed statement that the presence of the virus in wastewater suggests more people in the community may be shedding the virus in their stools.

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However, the CDC added that no new cases have been identified and that it is not yet clear whether the virus is actively spreading in New York or elsewhere in the United States.

Laboratory tests also confirmed that the strain in the case is genetically linked to a strain found in Israel, although this did not mean the patient had traveled to Israel, officials added. The CDC said the genetic sequencing also linked it to samples of the highly contagious and life-threatening virus in the UK.

According to the New York Times, the patient had started showing symptoms in June when local officials urged doctors to keep an eye out for cases.

“With the rapid spread of polio, now is the time for every adult, parent and guardian to get themselves and their children vaccinated as soon as possible,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Basset.

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There is no cure for polio, which in some cases can cause irreversible paralysis, but it can be prevented by a vaccine introduced in 1955.

New York officials have announced they will open vaccination clinics to help unvaccinated residents get their shots. According to the CDC, inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is the only polio vaccine administered in the United States since 2000. It is given by injection into the leg or arm, depending on the patient’s age.

Polio is often asymptomatic, and people can transmit the virus even if they don’t appear ill. But it can produce mild, flu-like symptoms that can take up to 30 days to appear, officials said.

It can strike at any age, but the majority of those affected are children three years old and younger.

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The New York State Department of Health told Reuters that it was unable to determine with certainty whether the positive polio samples came from the case identified in Rockland County based on the available evidence.

“When samples like these are identified, it certainly raises concern about the potential for community spread – which is why it is vital that everyone who is unvaccinated, particularly in the Rockland County area, be vaccinated as soon as possible.” will,” the department said.

Dr. Jonas Salk in the 1950s was heralded as a scientific achievement to combat the global scourge that is now largely eradicated nationwide. There has not been a case of polio in the United States since 1979, although cases were found in 1993 and 2013. (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Christopher Cushing)