Polio has been found in wastewater samples taken from two counties outside of New York City indicating the virus is spreading in the community, according to state health officials.
Wastewater samples taken from two different locations in Orange County during June and July tested positive for the virus, according to the New York State Department of Health.
The findings come after an unvaccinated adult in Rockland County contracted polio, suffered paralysis and had to be hospitalized last month. Polio was subsequently found in Rockland County wastewater samples. Rockland County neighbors Orange County.
The polio strain the adult in Rockland County caught suggests the chain of transmission did not begin in the United States.