1 Year Since Polio Found in Wastewater in Rockland: Health Department

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — It has been a full year since the poliovirus was found in the wastewater in Rockland and neighboring counties’ sanitary sewer systems, officials in the county health department announced.

"While it is great to know that a year has passed without poliovirus detected in Rockland’s wastewater however, we must remain vigilant as the virus can spread again," said County Executive Ed Day.

Wastewater is sewage that contains feces that have been flushed down the toilet and other water that goes down household drains. Wastewater is managed in the sewage system and at treatment plants.

While it cannot be a source of polio infection or transmission for the general public, and does not contaminate drinking water, wastewater is an important public health tool. That's because people infected with polio shed virus in their stool. Wastewater samples are collected and examined for the presence of the virus.

Why? Because people can spread the virus even if they don't know they're sick. Polio is highly contagious. The presence of the virus in wastewater alerts health-care providers that polio is circulating in the community.

Polio, which had been declared eliminated in the U.S. in 1979, appeared in New York in July 2022; a sick Rockland resident became paralyzed and tests confirmed he had polio.

RELATED: NY Confirms 1st Case Of Polio In U.S. Since 2013

Health officials then discovered the virus was circulating in the Hudson Valley and found positive samples genetically linked to the Rockland case in Queens and on Long Island. The findings provided evidence of local — not international — transmission, they said.

In 2022, sequencing analysis confirmed the presence of poliovirus in a total of 100 positive wastewater samples in New York State. Positive samples of concern were found in Sullivan, Rockland, Orange, Nassau, and New York City. Sequencing analysis from the CDC showed most were genetically connected to the paralyzed polio victim.

In 2023, 4,589 samples were tested for polio; 1 positive sample of concern was found, in Rockland County, last February.

Rockland's wastewater continues to be regularly monitored.

A viral disease that can affect the nervous system, polio is very contagious, and people can spread the virus even if they aren't sick. According to the New York State Health Department:

• Polio spreads from person-to-person through contact with poop (often tiny, invisible amounts) from an infected person. More rarely, it can spread through the sneeze or cough droplets from an infected person.
• Polio is very contagious, and not everyone who is infected with polio will show symptoms. Some have mild or flu-like symptoms that can be easily mistaken for another type of virus.
• Still, all infected people can spread the virus and infect others, even if they have no symptoms.

About 1 out of 4 people have mild symptoms of polio, including fever, muscle weakness, headache, nausea, and vomiting.

In some cases, polio can infect a person’s brain and spinal cord, causing permanent paralysis (cannot move parts of the body) or even death. Between 2 and 10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from polio die because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe. Even people who seem to recover fully can develop new muscle pain, weakness, or paralysis 15 to 40 years later.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, before vaccines were available, polio outbreaks caused more than 15,000 cases of paralysis each year, with U.S. deaths peaking at 3,145 in 1952, The Associated Press reported. Outbreaks led to quarantines and travel restrictions. Soon after vaccines became widely available, American cases and death tolls plummeted to dozens in the 1960s.

Now, the statewide polio vaccination rate is 79.75 percent for children by age 2. However, Rockland has the fourth-lowest rate among New York counties:

• Jefferson: 63.62 percent
• Rockland: 60.99
• Orange: 59.84
• Franklin: 58.23
• Yates: 54.87

Half the communities in Rockland have vaccination rates lower than the state average:

The only protection against polio and post-polio syndrome is immunization.

The Rockland County Department of Health encourages unvaccinated residents, those who still need to complete the polio vaccination series or are at high risk for contracting polio even if they have completed the primary series, to get vaccinated.

"Make sure you and your family are fully immunized to protect yourself and those around you from polio and other vaccine-preventable infectious diseases," Day said.

Visit the Rockland County Department of Health’s website for more information on polio. Learn more about polio immunization. See county-by-county rates.