First polio case in nearly a decade detected in New York State

A man who lives in Rockland County was infected by someone who received the oral polio vaccine, which is no longer used in the States United States, officials said.< /p>

A case of poliomyelitis has been identified in an unvaccinated adult male in Rockland County, officials said.

The new York State Department of Health and its counterpart in Rockland County have confirmed that the infection was transmitted by someone who received the oral polio vaccine , which has not been administered in the United States since 2000. Officials said in a press release that the virus may have originated outside. in the United States, where the oral vaccine is still administered.

"I want to emphasize that this individual is no longer contagious," said Ed Day, the executive of Rockland County, at a press conference Thursday afternoon. "Our efforts are now focused on two issues: vaccinations and determining if anyone else has been affected by this disease."

Those who are not vaccinated or who have not completed their series of vaccinations should be vaccinated, officials said. The current case of poliomyelitis poses a very low risk to those who are already vaccinated against poliomyelitis: those who have received all three vaccines enjoy almost 100% protection.

The person's symptoms began about a month ago, Rockland County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert said at the news conference. The patient presented with "weakness and paralysis," she said, and the department was notified of the confirmed case on Monday.

"We We are now interviewing the family and close contacts of this individual to assess the risk to the community," Dr. Ruppert said. She did not share any additional information about the patient's current medical condition or prognosis.

Although health officials did not reveal the patient's gender, local officials said he is a male from the Orthodox Jewish community. In 2018 and 2019 , there was an outbreak of measles in Rockland County concentrated among ultra-Orthodox Jews, whose vaccination rates tended to be lower than those of the general population. have been infected with measles.

Last case of poliomyelitis in the United States ts United dates back to 2013, in a person who imported the disease from abroad. There have been no cases originating in the United States since 1979, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disease was one of the most feared from the country. until the 1950s when the first vaccine was developed.

Sixty percent of 2-year-old children in Rockland County received all three doses of the vaccine against polio, according to state data - a rate considerably lower than the 80% rate in the rest of the state except New York City.

To achieve herd immunity against poliomyelitis, the target vaccination rate is 80%, according to the World Health Organization.

The disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have lowered vaccination rates for routine childhood vaccinations around the world and in the United States, according to some studies. Misinformation and mistrust related to Covid vaccines have