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| Photo Credit: AP. |
The deadly poliovirus was found in New York City’s sewage, sending fears the virus may be spreading especially among unvaccinated people, according to a statement by health officials Friday.
The virus disappeared from the U.S. for a decade now but may be spreading locally around the city, The Associated Press quoted the city and New York state health departments as saying.
Is poliovirus in New York City?
State Health
Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said the detection of poliovirus in New York
City’s wastewater samples is alarming, encouraging people to get vaccinated
against the virus.
“The risk to
New Yorkers is real but the defense is so simple — get vaccinated against
polio,” New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said in a statement,
according to The Associated Press. “With polio circulating in our communities
there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect
them from this virus, and if you’re an unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated
adult, please choose now to get the vaccine. Polio is entirely preventable and
its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us.”
How is New York coping with monkeypox, coronavirus and polio?
The city is
struggling to vaccinate some of its population against monkeypox and poliovirus
could add to the city’s troubles.
“We are dealing with a trifecta,” Mayor Eric
Adams said Friday on CNN, according to The Associated Press. “COVID is still
very much here. Polio, we have identified polio in our sewage, and we’re still
dealing with the monkeypox crisis. But the team is there. And we’re
coordinating and we’re addressing the threats as they come before us, and we’re
prepared to deal with them with the assistance of Washington, D.C.”
The Associated
Press reported that one person suffered paralysis weeks ago because of a polio
infection in Rockland County, north of the city. Wastewater samples collected
in Rockland and Orange County in June were found to contain the virus.
How does poliovirus spreads?
Infected
persons can spread the virus from person to person for days or weeks and may
not experience any symptoms.
Hundreds of
people in New York may have the virus without knowing about it, officials said.
Polio
vaccines became available in 1955 after the virus caused significant paralysis
in children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that a
national vaccination campaign cut the annual number of U.S. cases to less than
100 in the 1960s and fewer than 10 in 1970s, The Associated Press reported.