A
mysterious disease marked by muscle weakness or paralysis struck 233
people in 2018, most of them children — marking the worst year since the
federal government started tracking the illness in 2014.
The number of confirmed cases of acute flaccid myelitis
included 11 each in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The year’s total was
announced Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
The
cause is thought to be a virus, leading to damage to the spinal cord,
but much about the illness remains unclear, CDC physicians said in a
conference call. A prime suspect is a type of enterovirus called D68,
yet most people who become infected with it do not develop muscle
weakness.
The
disease has struck 11 people so far this year, the agency said. That
number is not expected to go much higher, as the illness so far has
followed a biannual pattern, spiking in 2014, 2016, and 2018.
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