The United States Has Reported First Polio Case In A Decade

Brittany Strickland, a fashion designer, was "deadly scared" when she learned that the United States had recorded its first polio case in nearly a decade. According to a news agency, the 33-year-old was not vaccinated against this debilitating disease.

She finally got her polio shot this week in Pomona, New York's Rockland County, where the first US polio case since 2013 was discovered in July. "My mother was an anti-vaxxer, hence I never had any polio vaccines as a child," " Strickland told the news agency.

Since 2013, the polio virus has been found in wastewater samples from the area, as well as in a neighboring county and in sewage from New York City. According to the news, experts believe that polio, which was once one of the most feared diseases in America, may resurface in United States.

Polio, according to John Dennehy, a virologist at the City University of New York, is a virus on the verge of extinction.

In the United States, health officials are urging immunized people to get vaccinated against polio, with Rockland County providing free shots. Rockland County, located 30 miles (48 kilometres) north of Manhattan, has a polio vaccination rate that is significantly lower than the national average.

According to data from the New York State Department of Health, only 60% of two-year-old children have received a vaccine, compared to 79% statewide and 92% nationally.