The case is in a Rockland County resident, the state health department said. State health officials said sequencing determined that the newly identified case is a case of vaccine-derived polio. The oral polio vaccine contains a weakened version of the polio virus that can be passed in the stool and transmitted. That vaccine hasn’t been given in the U.S. since 2000, suggesting the virus may have come from somewhere outside the U.S., health officials said. The polio patient in Rockland County is a young adult whose symptoms began a month ago, according to public health officials in Rockland County. The person is no longer contagious but has suffered some paralysis. It is unknown if this will be permanent. The infected person contracted polio through exposure to someone who had been vaccinated with the oral vaccine. The patient did not travel out of the country, so the exposure was here, said health officials, who are now investigating whether the patient’s close contacts are at risk. There are no other suspected cases at this time. This 2014 image made available by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a polio virus particle. On Thursday, July 21, 2022, New York City health officials reported a case of polio, the first in the US in nearly a decade. Sarah Poser, Meredith Boyter Newlove/CDC via AP Health officials urged those who are unvaccinated and parents of unvaccinated children to seek polio vaccination now. “The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protects against this potentially debilitating disease, and is part of the backbone of required, routine childhood immunizations recommended by health officials and public health agencies nationwide,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. . Mary Bassett. a statement. Rockland County will host vaccine clinics Friday and Monday, the health department said. The last known case in the US was recorded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2013, which was also a case of vaccine-derived polio. The last “wild” case of polio was detected in the USA in 1979. The US uses the inactivated polio vaccine, which cannot cause infection. Polio vaccination protects people from both vaccine-derived polio and “wild” polio. Polio is a highly contagious, potentially fatal virus that can be transmitted even when an infected person has no symptoms. Symptoms, which include fatigue, fever, headache, stiffness, muscle pain and vomiting, can take up to 30 days to appear. In rare cases, polio can cause paralysis or death. “Many of you may be too young to remember polio, but when I was growing up, this disease struck fear into families, including my own,” said Ed Day, Rockland County Executive. “The fact that it’s still some decades after the vaccine was created shows you how relentless it is. Do the right thing for your child and the greater good of your community and vaccinate your child now.” ABC News’ Sony Salzman and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
