Polio Still Found In Orange County Wastewater: State Health Officials

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — New York health officials reported Jan. 6 that polio continues to be detected in wastewater in Orange County, which means the live virus is still circulating in the community.

Since a case of paralytic polio was confirmed on July 21 in a Rockland County resident — the first in the United States since 2013 — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the presence of poliovirus in a total of 101 positive samples, 94 of which have been found to be genetically linked to the Rockland County case.

Health officials monitoring sewage systems found it in Rockland and other sewage systems through the summer months. SEE: More Poliovirus Found In Hudson Valley, NYC Wastewater

It's in the sewage systems because people carrying infectious diseases such as polio "shed" bits of virus when they eliminate wastes from their bodies. For every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of other people infected. Symptoms of polio, which can be mild and flu-like, can take up to 30 days to appear, during which time an infected individual can be shedding virus to others. According to the World Health Organization, of those paralyzed, 5-10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

Since October, polio hasn't been found in Rockland, Sullivan, Nassau county or New York City wastewater, but in Orange County the virus was found in one sample in November and two in December, according to New York State health officials.

Until 2022, the last case of polio identified in the US was in 2013 in an infant who received a live-virus vaccination abroad. It still occurs globally, specially where there are low vaccination rates.

Orange, Rockland and Yates counties have the lowest polio immunization rates in New York, significantly lower than the statewide average of 78.96 percent of children with three polio immunizations before their second birthday, based on the most recent data from the state's Immunization Information System.

The polio immunization rate in Yates County was 53.77 percent, Orange County was 58.68 percent and the rate in Rockland was 60.34 percent as of Aug. 1. Sullivan, Jefferson and Franklin counties also had polio immunization rates below 70 percent.

Inactivated poliovirus vaccine, which is the only polio immunization that has been given in the United States since 2000, protects 99 percent of children who get all the recommended doses, according to the CDC.

No other cases have been confirmed, but the presence of the dangerous virus — there is no cure for polio, also known as infantile paralysis — prompted a massive outreach effort to unvaccinated people by local health officials, the New York State Health Department and U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

In Rockland County, health officials reported Monday that 14,071 polio vaccines have been administered since the case was confirmed, mostly to children under 5 years old.

Anyone who needs the inactivated polio vaccine can receive one free at the Rockland County Health Department clinic in Pomona on Mondays and Wednesdays. To make an appointment, call 845-238-1956.

To learn more about polio vaccination clinics in Orange County, click here.