New York City put on alert for polio outbreak
The polio virus has been detected in sewage water in New York City, signalling the return of the disease to the US after a decade.
The polio virus has been detected in sewage water in New York City, signalling the return of the disease to the United States after a decade.
After identifying the first case, health officials warned that polio poses its greatest threat for years. They have blamed delays in getting children vaccinated against polio during the pandemic and the general rise of scepticism about vaccines.
The patient, an unvaccinated man in his twenties from New York, has suffered paralysis after contracting the disease.
The virus has been detected in two counties near his home and was also discovered in wastewater in the city on Friday, suggesting that it is spreading among those who are unvaccinated.
Health officials have urged parents to get their children vaccinated to halt the spread of the preventable but potentially deadly disease.
Ashwin Vasan, the city’s health commissioner, said the re-emergence of the disease should be “a call to action for all of us”.
The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defense is so simple – get vaccinated against polio. With polio circulating in our communities there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect them from this virus. https://t.co/TgXjMACrLZ
— Commissioner Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD (@NYCHealthCommr) August 12, 2022
He added: “The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defence is so simple - get vaccinated against polio. With polio circulating in our communities there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect them . . . and if you’re an unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated adult, please choose now to get the vaccine.”
Health officials fear that polio may be returning throughout the world. Nearly one million children under the age of ten will be offered an extra vaccine in an effort to halt the spread of the virus across London, it was announced last week, and polio has also been detected in Jerusalem.
Health officials in Rockland County, north of New York City, where the man contracted the disease, said he had not travelled outside the US during the time that he would have become infected. That suggests, they said, that someone else brought the disease into the country.
“This is sobering,” said Jose Romero, director of the National Center for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We know that polio spreads silently and it is likely that there are many people infected . . . and shedding the virus in these communities.”
He added: “This is an urgent reminder of the importance of vaccination.”
The Times
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