The poliovirus has been confirmed in four samples in Sullivan County, New York weeks after a polio case left an unvaccinated person in Rockland County paralyzed. The New York State Department of Health says two samples were collected in July and two in August. They are genetically linked to the Rockland County case.
The virus has already been found in Orange County and New York City as well. Sullivan County lags the statewide vaccination rate significantly.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett renewed calls for every adult and child to be immunized against polio, saying while the virus is life-threatening and contagious, vaccination is effective.
Unvaccinated people infected with polio run a 1 percent chance of permanent paralysis, and a percentage of those people face death when they can no longer breathe. Rockland County has a polio vaccination rate of 60 percent, Orange County 58, and Sullivan County 62 – well below the statewide average of nearly 79 percent. The Department of Health’s goal is 90 percent.
For an update, WAMC’s Ian Pickus spoke with Sullivan County Public Health Director Nancy McGraw
