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The Orange County Department of Health said it has been advised by the state health department that the virus was identified in wastewater samples taken from June and July in two geographically different locations in Orange County.
The samples were initially collected from municipal wastewater treatment plants across Orange County for COVID-19 testing.
County officials said there have been no confirmed cases of polio infection identified in Orange County, but noted that the virus is circulating in the community.
“People who are not vaccinated run the risk of getting infected,” the department said in a statement. “Ask your healthcare provider, if you are up to date on your polio vaccination.”
The revelation came just days after state health officials confirmed the presence of polio in wastewater samples taken in neighboring Rockland County in June.
On Thursday, July 21 Rockland County made national headlines when the New York State Department of Health confirmed a case of polio there, the nation’s first in nearly a decade.
The case was genetically linked to ones found in Israel and the UK, but officials warned that that does not mean that the patient in New York traveled to those countries.
Polio is a highly contagious, viral disease that can affect the nervous system and cause muscle weakness.
It typically enters the body through the mouth, usually from hands contaminated with fecal matter of an infected person.
Respiratory and oral-to-oral transmission through saliva may also occur, officials said.
Symptoms of polio include fatigue, fever, headache, stiffness, muscle pain, and vomiting, and can take up to 30 days to appear, during which time an infected person can be transmitting the virus to others.
Health officials said while rare, some polio cases can result in paralysis or death.
Once considered one of the most feared diseases in the country, polio was virtually eliminated from the US following the development of vaccines in the 1950s.
More information about polio and vaccination clinics can be found on the Department of Health's website.
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