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New York health officials confirmed Thursday the first known case of polio in the United States since 2013.
The person is a resident of Rockland County, but there is no further information on the individual’s condition or vaccination status, officials reported.
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“The Department of Health strongly recommends that unvaccinated individuals get vaccinated or boosted with the FDA-approved IPV polio vaccine as soon as possible,” said New York State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett. “The polio vaccine is safe and effective, protecting against this potentially debilitating disease, and it has been part of the backbone of required, routine childhood immunizations recommended by health officials and public health agencies nationwide.”
Polio was once one of the most “feared diseases,” causing 15,000 cases of paralysis each year in the early 1950s, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Polio was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 1979 following an aggressive inoculation campaign after the vaccine was introduced in 1955. The declaration means that the virus no longer routinely spreads in the U.S., though travelers have occasionally brought infection in.
Four doses of the polio vaccine are part of the CDC’s standard childhood immunization schedule, to be administered at 2 months of age, 4 months, at 6 to 18 months, and at ages 4 through 6 years.
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Around 92% of children have received three or more polio vaccines by 24 months in the U.S., the CDC reported.
Those vaccinated against polio are considered at lower risk for infection. Polio is very contagious and typically spreads from person to person or through contaminated water.
