"Disease like polio" does not seem transmissible, says CDC director – but the cause remains unknown

The "polio-like" disease that has left children paralyzed "does not seem transmissible," according to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Acute flaccid Myletis (AFM) "does not seem to be transmissible from man to man", and "grouping into families" is not shown, said Dr. Robert Redfield.

"The CDC has been working hard on this topic since 2014 to try to understand causation and etiology. While we are sitting here today, we do not understand the cause, "Redfield said in an interview with CBS. "You know, we continue to strengthen our efforts, working in partnership with state and territory health departments and academic experts to try to understand this."

The CDC has confirmed 72 cases of acute acute Myletis (AFM) infection in 24 states this year.

At least 155 suspected cases of AFM have been reported.

The disease caused panic among parents across the United States – the children presented with symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection before the disease progressed quickly and they became weak or paralyzed.

Since the first outbreak of MFA recorded by the CDC in 2014 – which was linked to the enterovirus D-68 -, an outbreak has been recorded every two years, with a record number of cases between August and October.

The causes of the trend epidemics have been indeterminate – and the number of cases could be larger than expected due to inadequate test protocols and voluntary reporting requirements, according to experts.

Dr. Benjamin Greenberg, a neurologist at UT Southwestern and Children's Health in Dallas, suspects that a single virus in the family of viruses is causing epidemics. He suspects the EV-D68 to be one of the main causes of AFM, although due to inconsistent protocols and reporting, it is difficult to determine.

Redfield said that he "had again asked to form a working group" to analyze the specifics of the AFM and "solve the problem".

"I think there is a new event in the United States, the AFM – our – we suspect that it is caused by a single agent.C & # 39; is the dominant disease we are currently facing, "he said.

"We are trying to get a very strong group of individuals who, we are sure, will have this new mysterious syndrome that we can then use to try to understand the etiology."