The polio virus has been found in New York City’s wastewater in another sign that the disease, which hadn’t been seen in the U.S. in a decade, is quietly spreading among unvaccinated people, health officials said Friday.
The presence of the poliovirus in the city’s wastewater suggests likely local circulation of the virus, the city and New York state health departments said.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said the detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples in New York City is alarming but not surprising.
“The risk to New Yorkers is real but the defense is so simple — get vaccinated against polio,” New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said in a statement.
“With polio circulating in our communities there is simply nothing more essential than vaccinating our children to protect them from this virus, and if you’re an unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated adult, please choose now to get the vaccine. Polio is entirely preventable and its reappearance should be a call to action for all of us.”
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Saudi blast suspect kills self with suicide belt: Officials
A suspect in a deadly 2015 Islamic State group attack on a Saudi mosque blew Saudi national Abdullah bin Zayed al-Bakri al-Shehri up while being arrested by security forces in Jeddah this week, Saudi officials said on Friday. Four others were wounded when Saudi national Abdullah bin Zayed al-Bakri al-Shehri set off the explosives belt, the official said. He was one of nine men wanted for the blast that killed 15 people — mostly police — near the Yemen border.
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Rishi Sunak faces losing battle in race to be UK PM, Liz Truss likely to win
Amid the race for the Conservative party leadership, British Prime Minister hopeful Rishi Sunak has vowed to support the most vulnerable people of the UK amid the rising energy crisis in the country. The Conservative party leadership results are just a few weeks away but it looks like Liz Truss’s victory over Rishi Sunak is imminent. Not only this, independent surveys and polls have shown Truss consistently scoring ahead of Rishi Sunak.
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Drought declared in England amid extreme hot weather
England is officially in a drought across vast swathes of the country, the government’s Environment Agency has announced, as another heat wave intensifies and water companies impose restrictions on household use. Parts of western, southern, central and eastern England were put into “drought” status following a meeting of the National Drought Group on Friday. The UK is currently struggling on many fronts. The drought is not only affecting England.
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Why mutation of BA.5 lineages is a matter of concern? WHO highlights
About 99 per cent of the coronavirus sequences reported globally in a month – between July 8 and August 8 – were linked to the Omicron variant, the World Health Organization has said in its latest weekly bulletin, highlighting that “BA.5 descendent lineages” are increasing in diversity. The world health body has said it has been tracking an increase in prevalence and change in vital characteristics of the lineages.
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Trump calls for ‘immediate’ release of Mar-a-Lago search warrant
Former President Donald Trump called late Thursday for the “immediate” release of the federal warrant the FBI used to search his Florida estate, hours after the Justice Department had asked a court to unseal the warrant, with Attorney General Merrick Garland citing the “substantial public interest in this matter.” The Justice Department request earlier Thursday is striking because such documents traditionally remain sealed during a pending investigation.