The presence of the virus in sewage indicates possible local circulation, according to New York City and State health departments. Although the disease has not appeared in the US for a decade, a person in New York City was paralyzed weeks ago by a polio infection in Rockland County, north of the city. State health commissioner Dr Mary T Bassett said the detection of the polio virus in sewage samples in the city was alarming but not surprising as officials urged people to get vaccinated. In a statement, the city’s health commissioner, Dr Ashwin Vasan, said: “Polio is completely preventable and its re-emergence should be a call to action for us all. “The danger to New Yorkers is real, but the defense is so simple – get vaccinated against polio.” Sewage samples collected in June in both Rockland and neighboring Orange County were found to contain the virus. The latest developments in New York come shortly after health officials in the United Kingdom declared a national emergency after traces of polio were discovered in a sewage inspection in London. Read more: What is polio and have people in the UK been vaccinated against it? Children aged one to nine in London will be offered a dose of polio vaccine Polio is a contagious virus that can be spread through coughing and sneezing, but also through food, water, or objects contaminated with the feces of someone infected with it. It mainly affects children under the age of five, although it can also affect unvaccinated adults. Polio was once one of the nation’s most feared diseases, with annual outbreaks causing thousands of cases of paralysis, but vaccines became available by 1955 offering strong protection. Most people infected with polio do not have symptoms, but they can pass the virus to others for days or weeks. All students in New York must get a polio vaccine, but Rockland and Orange counties are both known as centers of vaccine resistance.
