The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified the polio virus in wastewater samples from Rockland County after identifying the first case in the U.S. since 2013 in an unvaccinated young adult in Rockland County on July 21.
The patient, who developed paralysis, began displaying symptoms a month earlier and had not recently traveled outside of the country.
After identifying the polio case, the NYSDOH began wastewater surveillance, among other detection efforts, to check for signs of the virus.
The virus was detected in samples from Rockland County following analysis from the CDC.
According to the NYSDOH, the findings underscore the critical importance of vaccination to protect New Yorkers against polio.
“Polio is a dangerous disease with potentially devastating consequences,” said NYS Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett. “In the United States, we are so fortunate to have available the crucial protection offered through polio vaccination, which has safeguarded our country and New Yorkers for over 60 years. Given how quickly polio can spread, now is the time for every adult, parent, and guardian to get themselves and their children vaccinated as soon as possible.”
As part of the ongoing surveillance efforts, New York wastewater samples are shared with the Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN), which includes CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO).
GPLN has confirmed that the polio case in New York is genetically linked to two Sabin-like type 2 (SL2) isolates, collected from June samples from Rockland County and samples from Jerusalem, Israel, though this does not imply the individual traveled to Israel.
The NYSDOH will continue to work with global, national, and local public health authorities to aggressively assess the spread of polio and ensure preventative measures are in place, specifically vaccination clinics, as the best way to keep New Yorkers polio-free is to maintain high immunity through vaccination.
Polio is a severe and life-threatening disease. It is spread from person to person and is very contagious.
Symptoms, which can be mild and flu-like, can take up to 30 days to appear, during which time an infected individual can spread the virus to others. Some polio cases can result in paralysis or death.
New Yorkers who are unvaccinated, including children 2 months and older, those who are pregnant, and people who have not completed their polio vaccine series previously, should get vaccinated right away.
Find more information on polio and the polio vaccine HERE.