STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Wastewater surveillance in 13 counties in New York, including nearby Brooklyn and Queens, found 8% of samples tested positive for the same strain of poliovirus that paralyzed a Rockland County man.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected 1,076 wastewater samples between March 9, 2022, and Oct. 11, 2022, from 48 sewersheds serving more than 11 million people and discovered 89 positive results, the agency said Friday.
The majority of the results were genetically related to the virus that paralyzed the 20-year-old who contracted the disease while traveling overseas. However, just one sample of seven from parts of Kings and Queens counties that tested positive for poliovirus was connected to the Rockland County case.
“Although most persons in the United States are sufficiently immunized, unvaccinated or undervaccinated persons living or working in Kings, Orange, Queens, Rockland, or Sullivan counties, New York, should complete the polio vaccination series to prevent additional paralytic cases and curtail transmission,” the researchers wrote.
The counties outside New York City where multiple positive samples were found are likely experiencing some level of community transmission, the CDC said, underscoring the extent of viral spread since the initial case was discovered.
Even though only a single large-volume wastewater sample collected from Kings and Queens counties tested positive for the specific strain, the researchers cautioned that the finding, coupled with testing earlier this year, suggests that poliovirus could also be spreading in these areas.
“Wastewater testing in conjunction with high-quality AFM (acute flaccid myelitis) surveillance, has helped clarify the scope of the polio outbreak in New York, which indicates community transmission in a five-county area near the only identified symptomatic patient,” said the CDC.
People who are unvaccinated, including children two months and older, those who are pregnant, and people who have not completed their polio vaccine series previously, should immediately get vaccinated, the state Department of Health said.
Polio is highly virulent, and people can transfer the virus even without being sick. Symptoms can sometimes be mild and flu-like and take up to one month to appear. Some polio cases can result in paralysis or death.
Vaccination is effective against the disease and protects 99% of children who get the recommended doses.