Rare Polio-Like Disease Hits Children In 16 States

Children's hospitals across the country are reporting the spread of a rare polio-like illness which has affected 38 people across 16 states this year.

The rare but serious disease known as Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM first made headlines in 2014. Since then, the CDC has tracked 362 cases almost entirely confined to children.

There is no vaccine for AFM - which is defined as an "inflammation of the spinal cord" which results in "limb, facial, oral or eye weakness" which can vary from subtle to severe.


Recently, a 2-year-old girl from Batavia, Julia Payne, was placed on a respirator and fed intravenously after being unable to swallow on her own.

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