State health officials announced that a resident from New York had tested positive for polio, the highly contagious viral disease that can cause paralysis, muscle weakness, and even death, on Thursday, July 21.
According to the New York State Department of Health, the person who tested positive for the disease lives in Rockland County, located about 30 miles north of Manhattan. The last known case of polio recorded in the United States was in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Rockland County Department of Health and the New York State Department of Health are urging healthcare providers to be on the lookout for additional polio cases, according to NBC News.
Health departments urge the public to get vaccinated against polio
The two health departments also said that people who are not vaccinated against polio should get vaccinated, and those at risk of exposure to the viral disease should get a booster. Rockland County is hosting vaccine clinics in the coming days in response to the positive test in the area.
County Executive Ed Day appealed to the public, saying that many people may be too young to remember polio, but when he was growing up, this disease struck fear in families, including his own. He added the fact that polio is still around decades after the vaccine was created shows just how relentless the disease is. Day asked parents living in the county to do the right thing for their child and the greater good of their community and have their child vaccinated now.
The New York State Department of Health said that the type of polio that the Rockland County resident has indicated a transmission chain from an individual who received the oral polio vaccine. The oral vaccine has not been used in the United States since 2000, indicating that the polio virus might have originated from somewhere outside the country, according to NPR.
Polio threat is real as the virus is highly contagious
Polio cases were cut drastically in the 1950s and 1960s after the development of the vaccine. The virus typically enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with the fecal matter of an infected person, according to the New York State Department of Health.
The health department added that respiratory and oral-to-oral transmission through saliva might also occur. Polio is very contagious, and a person can spread the dreaded virus even if they do not have symptoms, which can take up to 30 days to appear, according to Mayo Clinic.
New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said that vaccines had protected their health against old and new viruses for decades. He added that the urgency of safe and effective vaccines has always been here, and they need New Yorkers to protect themselves against completely preventable viruses like polio.
