Health officials have identified the polio virus in the city’s water which suggests an outbreak in the local area, officials from the state said on Friday, and urged New Yorkers who have not been vaccinated to get their vaccines.
“The NYC Health Department and the New York State Department of Health have identified poliovirus in sewage in NYC, suggesting local transmission of the virus,” the city’s health department stated in a statement released on Friday.
“Polio could cause paralysis, and possibly even death. We encourage New Yorkers who are not vaccinated to be vaccinated immediately.”
The discovery comes months after a case of Polio in an adult released on the 21st of July within Rockland County, marking the first time a confirmed case has been reported in more than 10 years. Learn more
In the beginning of this month, officials from the health department announced that the virus was discovered in the water of the New York City suburb a month before health officials have announced that they had discovered the Rockland County case. Read more
The U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared at the time that it was unclear which virus was expanding throughout New York or elsewhere in the United States.
There is no treatment for polio. It can cause irreparable paralysis in some cases, however it can be prevented with a vaccination that was made available in the year 1955.
New York officials have said they will be opening vaccination clinics for residents who have not been vaccinated to receive their vaccines. Inactivated vaccine against polio (IPV) is the sole polio vaccination that’s been offered throughout the United States since 2000, according to CDC. The vaccine is administered via shot through the arm or leg according to the patient’s age.
It is usually asymptomatic, and people are able to transmit the virus even if they aren’t displaying symptoms. However, it can cause mild, flu-like symptoms which could take up to 30 days to manifest according to officials.
It can happen at any time, but the majority of those who are affected are children who are three or younger.
