Public Health Response to a Case of Paralytic Poliomyelitis in an Unvaccinated Person and Detection of Poliovirus in Wastewater

Authors and Disclosures

Ruth Link-Gelles, PhD¹, Emily Lutterloh, MD^2,3, Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, DO⁴, P. Bryon Backenson, MS^2,3, Kirsten St. George, PhD^5,6, Eli S. Rosenberg, PhD^2,3, Bridget J. Anderson, PhD², Meghan Fuschino, MS⁵, Michael Popowich⁵, Chitra Punjabi, MD⁴, Maria Souto, MPH⁴, Kevin McKay, MPH⁴, Samuel Rulli⁴, Tabassum Insaf, PhD², Dustin Hill, PhD⁷, Jessica Kumar, DO², Irina Gelman, DPM⁸, Jaume Jorba, PhD¹, Terry Fei Fan Ng, PhD¹, Nancy Gerloff, PhD¹, Nina B. Masters, PhD¹, Adriana Lopez, MHS¹, Kathleen Dooling, MD¹, Shannon Stokley, DrPH¹, Sarah Kidd, MD¹, M. Steven Oberste, PhD¹ and Janell Routh, MD¹, 2022 U.S. Poliovirus Response Team

¹2022 CDC Domestic Poliovirus Emergency Response Team; ²New York State Department of Health; ³Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York; ⁴Rockland County Department of Health, Pomona, New York; ⁵Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; ⁶Department of Biomedical Science, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York; ⁷Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York; ⁸Orange County Department of Health, Goshen, New York.

Corresponding author
Ruth Link-Gelles, media@cdc.gov.

2022 U.S. Poliovirus Response Team
Hanen Belgasmi, CDC; Barrett Brister, CDC; James E. Bullows, CDC; Cara C. Burns, CDC; Christina J. Castro, CDC; Janine Cory, CDC; Naomi Dybdahl-Sissoko, CDC; Brian D. Emery, CDC; Randall English, CDC; Ann D. Frolov, CDC; Halle Getachew, CDC; Elizabeth Henderson, CDC; Alexandra Hess, CDC; Karen Mason, CDC; Jeffrey W. Mercante, CDC; Stacey Jeffries Miles, CDC; Hongmei Liu, CDC; Rachel L. Marine, CDC; Nehalraza Momin, CDC; Hong Pang, CDC; Daniel Perry, CDC; Shannon L. Rogers, CDC; Brandon Short, CDC; Hong Sun, CDC; Farrell Tobolowsky, CDC; Eileen Yee, CDC; Scott Hughes, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Enoma Omoregie, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Jennifer B. Rosen, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Jane R. Zucker, CDC and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Mohammed Alazawi, New York State Department of Health; Ursula Bauer, New York State Department of Health; Alex Godinez, New York State Department of Health; Brianna Hanson, New York State Department of Health; Eugene Heslin, New York State Department of Health; James McDonald, New York State Department of Health; Neida K. Mita-Mendoza, New York State Department of Health; Megan Meldrum, New York State Department of Health; Dana Neigel, New York State Department of Health; Robin Suitor, New York State Department of Health; David A. Larsen, Syracuse University; Christina Egan, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Nicola Faraci, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; G. Stephanie Feumba, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Todd Gray, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Daryl Lamson, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Jennifer Laplante, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Kathleen McDonough, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Natalie Migliore, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Amruta Moghe, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Simon Ogbamikael, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Jonathan Plitnick, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Rama Ramani, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Lindsey Rickerman, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Erik Rist, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Lynsey Schoultz, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Matthew Shudt, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health; Julie Krauchuk, Rockland County Department of Health, New York; Eric Medina, Rockland County Department of Health, New York; Jacqueline Lawler, Orange County Department of Health, New York; Heather Boss,, Orange County Department of Health, New York; Emanuele Barca, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital; Danish Ghazali, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital; Tarini Goyal, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital; Sean J.P. Marinelli, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital; Jackson A. Roberts, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital; Grace B. Russo, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital; Kiran T. Thakur, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital; Vivian Q. Yang, Columbia University Irving Medical Center-New York Presbyterian Hospital.

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.

Sidebar

Summary

What is already known about this topic?

Sustained poliovirus transmission has been eliminated from the United States for approximately 40 years; vaccines are highly effective in preventing paralysis after exposure.

What is added by this report?

In June 2022, poliovirus was confirmed in an unvaccinated immunocompetent adult resident of New York hospitalized with flaccid lower limb weakness. Vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was isolated from the patient and identified from wastewater samples in two neighboring New York counties.

What are the implications for public health practice?

Unvaccinated persons in the United States remain at risk for paralytic poliomyelitis if they are exposed to either wild or vaccine-derived poliovirus; all persons in the United States should stay up to date on recommended poliovirus vaccination.