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New York declares polio a state disaster as wastewater surveillance spots virus in Nassau County
By
Nsikan Akpan
Published Sep 9, 2022
Modified Sep 9, 2022
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Bettmann via Getty Images
By
Nsikan Akpan
Published Sep 9, 2022
Modified Sep 9, 2022
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul quietly declared a state disaster on Friday morning over the polio virus.
The executive order came as the state Department of Health released new information on wastewater surveillance of the virus, suggesting that it’s now circulating in Nassau County.
Both updates arrived with little fanfare and no public press conferences to alert the public, even though polio is known to cause paralysis in children and the New York City school system — the nation’s largest — started classes on Thursday.
"On polio, we simply cannot roll the dice," state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in an emailed statement to the press about an hour after the state disaster was declared. “If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccinations, the risk of paralytic disease is real. I urge New Yorkers to not accept any risk at all.”
The governor posted the executive order to her office’s website on Friday morning — with no other indication that a disaster had been declared. The state health department didn’t issue guidance on social media until 1:30 p.m.
The governor tweeted about the topic of polio at 1:50 p.m. but made no mention of New York declaring a state disaster over the virus. Instead, she said the state was “making it easier for New Yorkers to get their polio vaccine if they haven't already received it.”
A spokesperson for the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the health department stated that the executive order expands “the network of polio vaccine administrators with the addition of EMS workers, midwives, and pharmacists and authorizes physicians and certified nurse practitioners to issue non-patient specific standing orders for polio vaccines."
Polio is an enteric virus, meaning it lives in the gut and typically spreads when infected fecal matter enters another person’s mouth.
So far only a single paralytic case of polio has been reported this year in New York — the first incident nationwide in nearly a decade. Health officials reported the infection in Rockland County in July — but wastewater analysis suggests the virus has spread well beyond this single case. Scientists can scan sewage samples for the virus. Similarities and differences in the genetic codes of those specimens can paint a map of where the germ is spreading, though researchers say it cannot identify exactly how many people might be silent carriers or afflicted.
New wastewater data from the state health department — also posted on Friday — shows that of the 57 positive samples collected statewide, 50 are genetically linked to the original case from Rockland County.
This finding doesn’t mean the Rockland case caused the state’s outbreak, as polio doesn’t cause symptoms in 70% of people.
But the health department revealed that one of these samples — collected in Nassau County in August — is also genetically linked to the initial case in Rockland County. Similar specimens have also been found in Orange and Sullivan counties. State health officials say a polio detection in New York City wastewater has not been genetically linked to Rockland at this time.
Bassett is urging anyone who hasn’t been immunized or is unsure of their vaccination status to seek out shots as soon as possible.
“I urge New Yorkers to not accept any risk at all. Polio immunization is safe and effective – protecting nearly all people against disease who receive the recommended doses,” Bassett stated. “Do not wait to vaccinate.”
About 80% of infants in the state have gotten their shots, but vaccination rates vary by county. Rockland’s coverage is 60%, and health officials there have launched vaccination drives in recent weeks to boost protection. Nassau County shows a rate of 79%. In Yates County, the coverage is only 53%.
The inactivated polio vaccine, the only version in use in the United States, is shown to protect 99% of people from symptoms and paralysis caused by the virus.
Tagged
new york state
polio
long island
New York State Department of Health
Kathy Hochul
Nsikan Akpan
Nsikan is the former editor of the health and science desk at WNYC/Gothamist. Nsikan was previously at National Geographic where he worked as a science editor, overseeing its COVID-19 coverage in addition to other topics in science, health and technology. Before National Geographic, he worked for more than four years at PBS NewsHour, where he co-created an award-winning video series named ScienceScope. He shared a 2020 Emmy for the PBS NewsHour series “Stopping a Killer Pandemic” and in 2019 received a George Foster Peabody Award for the PBS NewsHour series “The Plastic Problem.” Nsikan has also worked for NPR, Science News Magazine, Science Magazine, KUSP Central Coast Public Radio, the Santa Cruz Sentinel and as a writer at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University. He holds a doctorate in pathobiology from Columbia University and is an alum of the science communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
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