The first U.S. polio case in nearly a decade has been confirmed in New York, said state health officials on Thursday.
State officials say the infected individual is a Rockland County resident not vaccinated against the disease. They did not provide further details on the person’s condition.
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NY resident infected with vaccine-derived strain
Officials say the person had a vaccine-derived strain of the poliovirus. It’s possible they were infected by someone who received the live vaccine, which is not available in the U.S.
The polio vaccine first became available in 1955. Before the vaccine, annual outbreaks caused thousands of cases of paralysis.
A national vaccine campaign brought the cases to less than 10 by 1970, reports NewsChannel9. In 1979, polio was declared eliminated in the U.S., meaning there was no longer a regular spread.
Since then, travelers have occasionally brought the disease to U.S. soil, the last case being the 2013 case involving an infected infant.
In the U.S. children are routinely vaccinated against polio. Roughly 93% of two-year-olds had received at least three of the four recommended doses, according to the most recent CDC data.
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