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Polio detection in New York wastewater is declining

WSHU | By J.D. Allen
Published December 15, 2022 at 7:23 AM EST
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist works with polio virus material. The first case of polio in nearly decade was detected in a New York patient Thursday. The individual was unvaccinated and likely contracted the virus from an individual outside of the country.
James Gathany
/
CDC
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientist works with polio virus material. The first case of polio in nearly decade was detected in a New York patient Thursday. The individual was unvaccinated and likely contracted the virus from an individual outside of the country.

The polio virus is being found in fewer wastewater samples across New York, including in Nassau County where a positive sample was detected in August.

As of December 5, polio was detected in 94 wastewater samples collected in Nassau, Kings, Queens, Orange, Rockland and Sullivan counties between April and October. Half of the cases are genetically tied to the infection of an unvaccinated Rockland resident in July, the first case in New York since 1990.

An executive order declaring a statewide disaster emergency issued in response to "the ongoing spread of polio" in New York expired last week.

State health officials credit that to over 46,700 polio vaccine doses being administered to children 18 years and younger in Rockland, Orange, Sullivan and Nassau counties.

However, they warn vaccination rates in these affected areas remain too low, and require ongoing wastewater surveillance and immunizations.

Copyright 2022 WSHU. To see more, visit WSHU.

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J.D. Allen
A native Long Islander, J.D. is WSHU's afternoon news editor. Formally WAMC’s Berkshire bureau chief, he has reported for public radio stations, including bylines with WSHU, WNYC, WBUR, WNPR and NPR. J.D. has reported on healthcare and small businesses for "Long Island Business News" and real estate and land-use for The Press News Group newspapers. He also hosted, produced and engineered award-winning programs at WUSB Stony Brook. An avid fencer in his free time, J.D. holds a B.A. in journalism and sociology from Stony Brook University and an M.S. in communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
See stories by J.D. Allen

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