New York declares emergency over polio cases

Kathy Hochul, the governor of the state of New York, has declared a statewide emergency due to water samples in New York City and four adjacent counties testing positive for poliovirus.

The BBC reports that the United States has officially polio-free since 1979, during the Carter Administration, and it has been eradicated in most parts of the world.

The first (and so far only) polio case confirmed in the United States in a decade is a New York state resident who contracted the virus. According to scientists, this case may be just “the tip of the iceberg.”

The polio victim is an unvaccinated male living in New York's Rockland County. He was hospitalized in June 2022.

New York government officials put the blame on lower vaccination rates in some parts of the state. The health department declared that now is seeking to boost vaccination rates from 79% to 90%.

Quoting a CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) study, the New York Times ran with the headline: "Polio may have been spreading in New York since April."

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A CDC laboratory, according to The New York Times, analyzed sewage collected in April in Orange County, adjacent to Rockland, and found the polio virus. Later it was also found in samples taken from New York City itself.

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Health authorities believe there are likely to be more people infected with polio in the state of New York, but they are likely to be asymptomatic. The problem with polio is that when symptoms appear, it can lead to irreversible paralysis.

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An analysis of wastewater also found a significant presence of the polio virus in London, according to the BBC.

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The British health authorities have launched a mass vaccination campaign that aims to immunize one million British girls and boys.

The British study on wastewater carried out by UKHSA (UK Health Security Agency) reported that the spread of the virus is extensive and, according to the BBC, "has gone beyond a close network of a few individuals."

Israel is also on guard. Polio has appeared in Jerusalem, and it is the first instance of the virus in the country in three decades.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, it was an unvaccinated four-year-old boy who had to be hospitalized. The suspicion is that this specific case may mean that the virus is circulating through large communities of individuals.

Studies carried out by US laboratories suggest that all of these recent victims have been infected by the same polio strain.

The origin of these new outbreaks is believed to be in a vaccine that is administered orally. It is usually very effective and direct, it is used in countries where polio still has a significant presence. There is one problem: the vaccinated person is immunized but can be contagious for a while.

At its worst, polio can paralyze young children for life. Fortunately, only a very small percentage of infections end up like this. But it's reason enough to try and eradicate it again.

Poliomyelitis was first reported in 1840 by the German Jakob Heine. The first vaccines arrived in the 1950s.

It is mostly spread through faeces, though fluids like saliva can also carry the virus under the right conditions.

The only real protection against polio is vaccination. There is no effective treatment once the virus makes us sick.

Only Pakistan and Afghanistan still have high rates of polio infections today. The rest of the world seemed free of the virus. But the drop in the vaccination rate of some communities (which reject conventional medicine because of religion or an ideology) has allowed polio to return.

Science saves lives, and once again, resolute efforts will be made to ensure that boys and girls are protected from this terrible disease.