New York Poliovirus Detections Continue in 2023

The New York State Department of Health Wastewater Surveillance's recent report reveals two additional positive poliovirus samples were identified in lower New York. 

As of January 6, 2023, sequencing analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the presence of poliovirus in a total of 101 positive samples of concern.

The poliovirus samples were collected in Rockland County, Orange County, Sullivan County, Nassau County, Brooklyn (Kings County), and Queens County.

The CDC says 94 of these samples are genetically linked to a Rockland County, NY, resident who was confirmed with polio (Acute flaccid myelitis) in 2022.

Polio is highly contagious, and people can spread the virus even if they don't know they're sick. However, individuals infected with polio shed viruses in their stools. 

New York says wastewater surveillance is an essential public health tool, providing the early and ongoing detection of polio in communities.

This monitoring helps identify where the virus may be and when, though it does not provide quantitative information about who or how many people or households may be infected.

Furthermore, wastewater collected in sewer systems in New York cannot be a source of polio infection or transmission for the general public. And it does not contaminate New York drinking water, including tap water, streams, and lakes, says the Department of Health.

The CDC says polio is a vaccine-preventable disease, and vaccines are generally available at clinics and pharmacies in New York.

Other polio outbreak news for 2023 is posted at PrecisionVacccinations.com/Polio.