This could be "the tip of the iceberg of a potentially much larger spread," New York State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett warned Thursday, August 4.
A patient with poliomyelitis and paralyzed legs was identified there on July 21 but, according to samples taken from the sewage, the actual circulation could be much higher.
“Most patients are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic.
So there are hundreds, if not thousands of cases (…) for us to be able to detect a paralyzed case, ”warned the BBC on Tuesday Dr Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, Rockland County Health Commissioner.
For every one case of paralytic polio observed, there may be hundreds of others infected.
Coupled with the latest wastewater findings, it's clear: polio is a threat to unvaccinated New Yorkers & children today.
— Dr. Mary T. Bassett (@DrMaryTBassett) August 5, 2022
On Monday evening, ABC reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US federal agency in charge of public health, had deployed a team to the scene to investigate the first case and encourage the population to be vaccinated.
There is a potential emergency because polio vaccine coverage is quite low in New York.
This reached 79% statewide, but only 60% in Rockland County (where the first patient was identified) and 58% in neighboring Orange County, according to American media.
Children are supposed to receive four doses of the polio vaccine: one at the age of 2 months, the second at 4 months, the third at 18 months and finally the last at the age of 6 years.
For unvaccinated adults, the schedule is three doses.
Traces in sewage in other countries
The sick man identified on July 21, aged 20, had recently traveled to Europe.
He contracted a "vaccine-derived" form of poliomyelitis, due to the fact that some countries (outside the United States) administer an oral polio vaccine (OPV), based on a weakened form of the virus.
As of August 5, sewage in New York turned up 11 samples genetically linked to this “patient zero,” including six taken in June and July from the same Rockland County and five taken in July from Orange County.
“Although no additional cases have been identified at this time, these results indicate that more than one person is excreted the virus in their stool,” the CDC said.
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In addition to the United States, traces of the polio virus were also identified at the end of June in other countries, such as the United Kingdom.
In France, where the vaccination coverage is close to 100%, "only vaccinal polioviruses as well as a virus derived from vaccinal poliovirus type 2, without resumption of virulence, all imported, have been demonstrated since 2000 in clinical samples , without any warning signs that could suggest poliomyelitis in the patients sampled”, reported Public Health France on June 30.