Polio

New York Polio Emergency and Vaccination Order

Poliovirus is a highly contagious viral disease that can cause paralysis and even death, primarily affecting children under five years old . In 2022, New York State identified a case of paralytic polio in an unvaccinated adult, the first in nearly a decade, linked to vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) . This case, along with detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples, revealed sustained local transmission and prompted urgent public health responses . Despite being largely controlled in the United States since 1979, the re-emergence of polio underscores the critical need for vaccination and surveillance .