New York: A new analysis of sewage samples in the US suggests that the deadly polio virus has been circulating in New York City possibly since April and in other states for a year.
In June, a young man was admitted to the hospital after developing symptoms of fever, stiff neck and abdominal pain in a suburb of the city. Along with these symptoms, he also developed weakness in his hands and feet and the pathogen was also found in his body.
Pathogens are organisms that harbor disease in the body. The virus found in the infected person was also identified in drainage samples from two counties in neighboring New York.
Experts said that the infected person did not travel internationally during this time, but local transmission of the virus may be possible.
The polio vaccine has not been administered in the US since 2000. This wire was probably transmitted from someone abroad.
