The New York State Department of Health confirmed the presence of poliovirus in Rockland County wastewater for the first time since October.
According to a press statement from the office of County Executive Ed Day, a single positive result was collected in February. To date, no further detections were reported.
Last July, an unvaccinated Rockland County man was hospitalized after developing the symptoms from polio. While neither the county nor state government identified the man, a report in New York Jewish Week stated the patient was an Orthodox Jewish man ”“ and Day”™s office also noted positive tests for poliovirus were recently confirmed in Northern Israel.
“With increased travel expected between Rockland County and Israel over Passover, the County of Rockland reminds families there is a real risk of paralysis from the polio virus if you are unvaccinated,” said the statement from Day”™s office.
Traces of the polio virus turned up in New York City wastewater samples last summer, along with samples from Long Island”™s Nassau County and the Hudson Valley”™s Rockland, Orange and Sullivan counties. However, no other person was hospitalized with polio symptoms.
