Polio has been detected in a wastewater sample from Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens County from August, the New York State and City Departments of Health said Oct. 11.
The samples are genetically linked to the virus that paralyzed an unvaccinated man in Rockland County in July. A total of 70 sewage samples have been reported to contain the virus, CNBC reported Oct. 11.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state disaster emergency will remain in place at least through Nov. 8 after declaring an initial emergency Sept. 9.
"These findings put an alarming exclamation point on what we have already observed: unvaccinated people are at a real and unnecessary risk," Mary Bassett, MD, PhD, New York state health commissioner, and Ashwin Vasan, MD, New York City health commissioner, said in a joint statement.