National Briefing | Midwest: Minnesota: 4 Infected With Polio Virus
Published: October 14, 2005
Four children in an Amish community have become infected with the polio virus, the first known infections in the United States in five years, state health officials said. Health officials said the cases did not pose a threat to the general public because most people had been vaccinated against polio. But they said they expected to find more infections within the Amish community because some of its members refuse immunizations on religious grounds. None of the infected children had been vaccinated, and none have shown symptoms of the disease. Three are siblings; the fourth is an infant from another family. Officials would not identify the Amish community.