By Karen Matthews and Mike Stobbe
Associated Press
The polio virus is circulating in New York City's sewage, a further indication that the disease is spreading through community spread among the unvaccinated population, after a decade in which there had been no cases in the United States. , as reported this Friday by the Department of Health of the city and the state of New York.
[New York warns that hundreds of people may already be infected by the dangerous polio outbreak and urges to be vaccinated]
State Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett said the detection of poliovirus in sewage samples is alarming but not surprising, and there is an obvious defense.
File image of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. Mark Lennihan / AP
"The risk is real, but the defense is very simple: get vaccinated against polio," city health commissioner Ashwin Vasan said in a statement.
“With polio circulating in our communities, there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect them from this virus,” he said, “if you are an unvaccinated or incompletely immunized adult, get vaccinated now.
Polio is completely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us.”
British authorities confirmed this week that the virus has spread in London, although they have not yet detected cases in people, and urged children to be vaccinated;
children ages 1 through 9 are eligible to receive a booster shot of the polio vaccine.
A young man is paralyzed after contracting polio in New York.
Investigate possible community spread
Aug. 9, 202201:49
Most infected people have no symptoms, but can spread the virus for days or even weeks.
Vaccination offers robust protection, and authorities are asking the public to get immunized now if they haven't already.
New York officials believe there may be hundreds of infected people who don't know it yet, based on what is known about past outbreaks of the disease.