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New York has declared a state of emergency as wastewater samples show the poliovirus is spreading across the state.
The emergency declaration issued on Friday by Governor Kathy Hochul expands the network to administer polio vaccinations to include emergency medical services workers, midwives and pharmacists. New York officials said vaccination rates are too low in parts of the state－the current statewide average is about 79 percent.
"On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice," Mary Bassett, New York's state health commissioner, said. "If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccinations, the risk of paralytic disease is real. I urge New Yorkers to not accept any risk at all. For every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of other people infected."
Officials began monitoring wastewater in the state for polio, which is typically found in the fecal matter of an infected person, to track whether the virus is spreading after an unvaccinated man in Rockland County, just north of New York City, contracted the virus in July－the first recorded case in the United States since 2013. He also had paralysis.
The man was infected by the virus that had been shed from someone who received the oral polio vaccine. The oral vaccine is safe, but contains small amounts of weakened live virus that can circulate and strengthen if communities are under-vaccinated.
In August, New York City officials said they had identified polio in the city's wastewater. On Friday, state health officials announced that they had identified polio in 57 samples collected from wastewater in adjacent counties between May and August. Fifty of them were genetically linked to the case of the Rockland resident.
Polio can cause mild or flu-like symptoms, but the disease can also be disabling and life-threatening. It mainly affects infants and children under the age of 5, but anyone unvaccinated can contract it.
Polio was largely eradicated from the US by vaccinations that began in 1955. By 1979, the US was declared polio-free.
The case from Rockland County has been genetically linked to samples collected from the United Kingdom and Israel, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Genetic sequencing suggests that the virus linked to the New York case has been circulating for as long as a year, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, though not necessarily within the US.
The state of emergency will stay in effect until Oct 9. Health officials set a goal of getting 90 percent of residents vaccinated.
Agencies contributed to this story.
aiheping@chinadailyusa.com
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