Health officials in New York state said on Thursday that the first case of polio in the United States was reported in the region and is the first case in nearly a decade.
The infection was discovered in a resident of Rockland County, said the state health department. State health officials noted that sequencing of the patient determined that the newly detected case is an instance of vaccine-derived polio.
Polio Infection
The oral polio vaccine contains a weakened version of the polio virus that can be excreted in stool and transmitted to other hosts. That particular vaccine has not been administered in the U.S. since 2000, suggesting that the virus may have originated somewhere outside the country.
The patient from Rockland County was identified to be a young adult whose symptoms began roughly a month ago. The patient is no longer contagious but has suffered some paralysis, and it is unknown whether that will be permanent or temporary.
The infected individual is believed to have gotten the virus through exposure to someone who was inoculated with the oral vaccine. The patient did not travel outside of the country, so the exposure was here, argued health officials, as per ABC News.
Health officials also said there were no suspected other cases at this time as they urged unvaccinated people and parents of unvaccinated children to seek polio treatment as soon as possible.
In a statement, State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said, "The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protecting against this potentially debilitating disease, and it has been part of the backbone of required, routine childhood immunizations recommended by health officials and public health agencies nationwide."
According to Politico, the virus is known to quickly spread among asymptomatic individuals and can take up to 30 days for symptoms to appear after an individual has been infected. The state noted that it was already coordinating with the Rockland County Department of Health and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to investigate the case.
Vaccination Against the Virus
Authorities have also advised medical practitioners to be on the lookout for other potential cases in the region. In a statement, Rockland County Health Commissioner Patricia Schnabel Ruppert said that the agency is "working with our local health care partners and community leaders to notify the public and make polio vaccine available.
The official added that they were already monitoring the situation very closely and working with the New York State Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to respond to the public health issue in order to protect the health and well-being of county residents.
A Brown University pandemic researcher, Jennifer Nuzzo, said that while most Americans are already vaccinated against polio, the recent infection should serve as a wake-up call to the unvaccinated. She noted that the situation was not normal and added that there was nothing to worry about if a person was vaccinated.
In response to the infection, health officials have already scheduled vaccination clinics in New York for Friday and Monday. During a Thursday news conference, Ruppert said they wanted shots in the arms of those who need it, the Associated Press reported.
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