Three "mysterious" cases resembling those of polio have been examined in Alabama

HUNTSVILLE, Al. – It's called a mysterious disease and is compared to polio.

Over the last four years, the Centers for Disease Control has seen an increase in flaccid acute myelitis, also known as MFA. The neurological disease causes paralysis and weakness of the limbs and is mainly diagnosed in children.

The CDC released a report earlier this week indicating that 62 cases have been confirmed so far this year. Across the country, 127 cases were investigated, including three in Alabama.

The number of reported and confirmed cases began to increase in 2014. This earned the title "mysterious" because CDC officials do not know the cause of the disease or why they began to see more cases four years ago. .

Orville Young in Minnesota …

"And the results came back and he had an abnormality throughout his spinal cord," said his mother Elaine Young.

Preslee Holcombe in South Carolina …

"We are already starting to wonder if she can drive, if she can play football again," said her mother, Elizabeth Holcombe.

And Gracie Fisher in Colorado …

"Then I started to feel tingling in my hands and a neck pain and after five minutes I could not walk," she said.

The symptoms most closely resemble the complications of infection with some viruses, including polio viruses, non-polio enteroviruses, and West Nile virus. Since August 2014, the CDC has confirmed 386 cases, mostly among children.

"There are currently 3 cases under investigation and we have no conclusive information yet," said Dr. Burnestine Taylor of the Alabama Department of Public Health.

MRI will be required to confirm if patients have AFM.

"Some abnormal changes in the spine have been identified with other patients and you would need this evidence for one case to be actually confirmed," said Dr. Taylor. "What the doctor will do is eliminate other causes, exclude other possible causes."

Public health officials in Alabama do not know when cases were initially reported. However, they want to emphasize how rare this disease is. The risk of getting an MFA is about 1 in a million. For more information on the AFM, visit the CDC.gov