Last week, Oakland County began testing its wastewater for the polio virus. The testing is taking place at nearly a dozen sites over the next six weeks.
It comes after a man tested positive for the polio virus last year in Rockland, N.Y., the first time in 10 years the virus reappeared in the U.S.
Officials say Oakland County was chosen because it's one of six state-of-the-art laboratories in the region, and the testing is being done as a precaution and to encourage vaccinations in areas where it may be needed.
The polio virus is a debilitating and life-threatening disease. It spreads through person-to-person contact and impacts the brain and spinal cord. It can cause you to become paralyzed or even die from it.
However, it is preventable through vaccination.
"We have a great vaccination rate in the U.S. and certainly here in Oakland County. We're up at 97-98% across the county for vaccination," Dr. Russell Faust, the Oakland County Health Medical Director, said.
Anyone ages 17 and under should have already been vaccinated when they were younger, either by an oral vaccine, which is no longer available or by a shot.
There are two sites across the country where the CDC is testing for polio – Philadelphia and Oakland County.
According to Faust, there are two reasons why the CDC chose Oakland County.
Oakland County is one of the regional Michigan laboratories. There are six in the state that are kind of the premier labs to help out other counties that don't necessarily have a lab," Faust said. "There's an epidemiological link between Oakland County and Rockland New York."
The wastewater monitoring allows the CDC and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to identify communities where there may be a risk for polio transmission.
There are no active cases in Oakland County or the state.
The testing will be going on for the next six weeks an the results will be available to the public at a later date.
