A respiratory virus that in rare cases can cause polio-like paralysis in children is on the rise in California and across the nation, according to wastewater analyses.
Enterovirus D68 was detected in 207 out of 268 samples taken from wastewater sites across the nation in the last 10 days, says the nonprofit WastewaterSCAN .
In the same time period, EV-D68 was detected at a medium level at 17 wastewater sites in California , including facilities in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose. Because humans shed viruses in waste, wastewater sampling is used to measure the prevalence of infection in a community.
Most people who contract EV-D68 will experience slight respiratory symptoms or none at all, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nevertheless, its spread is troubling because the virus can lead to a rare and debilitating neurological condition called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM.
AFM attacks motor neurons in the spinal cord’s gray matter, which controls movement. This causes muscles and reflexes to weaken and, in severe cases, can lead to paralysis and death, according to the CDC.