Poliovirus is spreading in New York. Here’s what you need to know
The virus could spread further in communities with low polio vaccination rates
A particular kind of poliovirus is spreading in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed that the country now joins a list of around 30 other countries where circulation of the virus has been identified. Those countries include the United Kingdom, Israel, Egypt, Yemen and around two dozen in Africa.
The news, announced September 13, comes after the identification in July of a case of paralytic polio in an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County in New York. Public health officials found the case was caused by what’s called a vaccine-derived poliovirus (find out more about this kind of poliovirus below). This spurred wastewater surveillance in Rockland and the surrounding counties, because people shed poliovirus in their stool. The wastewater samples showed that the virus was spreading in Rockland and neighboring areas.