CDC Team Arrives In Rockland To Deal With Polio Virus

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — The national Centers for Disease Control has sent a small team to Rockland County to help local health officials respond to the polio virus detected in local wastewater as well as one case of paralysis.

The CDC did the same thing in 2018-19 during a severe local outbreak of measles that lasted nearly a year.

They are expected to remain in Rockland for three weeks, county officials said.

As of Friday, analysis from the CDC confirmed the presence of poliovirus in a total of 11 positive samples, up from seven Thursday that were confirmed to be genetically linked to the case of paralytic polio in the Rockland County resident. SEE: 'Tip Of The Iceberg': More Polio Virus Detected In The Hudson Valley

Of the 11 samples, 3 samples were collected in June from Rockland, 3 samples were collected in July from Rockland, and 5 samples were collected in July from Orange County.

The latest environmental findings do not indicate that the polio patient was the source of the transmission, and an investigation into the origin of the virus is ongoing, state officials said. Though the virus has also been genetically linked with a polio virus strain found in wastewater in London and Jerusalem, the findings in Orange and Rockland provide further evidence of local — not international transmission.

That underscores the urgency for every New York adult and child getting immunized, especially those in the greater New York metropolitan area, they said.

There have been 1,360 polio vaccines given in Rockland since July 21, according to the latest vaccination info from the state's immunization reporting system

That's when officials announced that the first polio case in the United States in a decade had been confirmed in the county in a young adult who had not traveled internationally.

Rockland County health officials continue to offer immunizations Mondays and Wednesdays by appointment at the department's clinic at the Robert L. Yeager Health Center in Pomona. For appointments or more information, call 845-364-2520 or 2497.

In Orange County, immunization clinics to prevent communicable diseases including polio are offered year-round for adults and uninsured or underinsured children in Middletown, and Newburgh. For more information, or to make an appointment, call the Orange County Department of Health's Immunization Program between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 845-291-2330.

Anyone who has not been vaccinated against polio, once the terror of families across the United States and still a global scourge, is at risk.

Based on data calculated from Aug. 1 by the New York State Immunization Information System, the polio immunization rate in Orange County is 58.68 percent and the rate in Rockland is 60.34 percent. Statewide, the polio immunization rate is 78.96 percent.

Both counties have a sizable unvaccinated population compared to others in the Hudson Valley. According to the state's Prevention Agenda Dashboard, the percentage of 24-35-month old children who have received the standard set of shots including vaccines against polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella was, as of 2020:

• Dutchess: 66.8 percent
• Orange: 45.4
• Putnam: 61.9
• Rockland: 42.9
• Ulster: 66.5
• Westchester: 62.6

New York's 2018-19 measles outbreak, based but not limited to Rockland and New York City, was the longest-running since the disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, meaning there was no longer routine spread.

Polio was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 1979.

State health officials said they will continue wastewater surveillance efforts in partnership with CDC and aggressively assess the spread of the virus.

Polio moves mostly from person to person or through contaminated water. It can infect a person's spinal cord, causing paralysis and possibly permanent disability and death. 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. Some polio cases can result in paralysis or death. According to the World Health Organization, of those paralyzed, 5-10 percent die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

SEE ALSO:

• 'Tip Of The Iceberg': More Polio Virus Detected In The Hudson Valley
• Rockland Polio Strain Matches Virus Samples In London, Jerusalem
• Polio In Rockland: Checking School Vaccination Rates
• Polio Paralyzes Resident, Rockland Clinic Vaccinates 18
• Health Officials Concerned About Polio Vaccination Rates In The HV