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In addition, 219 cases are in the process of being investigated.
This is eight more confirmed cases that the agency reported last week and 20 more patients under investigation.
The CDC noted an increase in the number of patients under investigation who had symptoms in August, September and October. It has not identified the 25 states with confirmed diseases, nor has it indicated how many states report cases under investigation.
Acute flaccid myelitis is a rare disease that affects the nervous system, especially the gray matter of the spinal cord, and can lead to muscle weakness and sudden onset of paralysis. Last month, the CDC reported that since 2014, 90% of patients were children under 4, although adults could also develop an AFM.
Other symptoms include sagging of the face or eyelids, difficult eye movements, difficulty swallowing or slurred speech.
Research is underway to determine the cause of the AFM, although the focus is on enteroviruses, which can cause respiratory diseases and West Nile virus, as well as other viruses. of this family.
According to the CDC, there have been 404 confirmed cases in the United States since August 2014. The number of cases may be higher, but the disease is not subject to mandatory reporting. Therefore, not all cases are reported to the state health services. not be counted by the CDC.
"Even with an increase in the number of cases since 2014, the MFA remains a very rare disease, with less than one in a million people in the United States receiving one each year," the CDC said.
AFM peaks every two years seasonally in late summer and in the fall. but experts have yet to identify a single factor geographically or otherwise to explain the cause. Also unknown: why some patients heal and others have prolonged effects.
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