Common virus that can leave kids paralyzed is spiking in US. Which states is it spreading?

Rates of enterovirus D68, a respiratory virus that can sometimes lead to a polio-like illness and paralysis in children, have risen significantly across the U.S. over the past month, new data show.

Nationally, the virus is now being detected at medium levels after having stayed at low levels from September 2023 to August 2024, based on wastewater data from the . (Humans infected with viruses may excrete them in waste, so wastewater can detect viral activity in communities.) Enterovirus D68 activity started rising this past spring in the South, a WastewaterSCAN spokesperson tells TODAY.

com. Since then, rates have started rising in all four regions the group tracks (the West, South, Midwest and Northeast) but are still highest in the South. While the virus usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms and most people have encountered it at some point, the rising rates are concerning because enterovirus D68 can cause a rare but serious complication in kids known as , a neurologic condition that comes on suddenly and can cause loss of muscle and reflexes.

And higher rates of enterovirus D68 usually mean higher rates of AFM in, Caitlin Rivers, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and author of “Crisis Averted: The Hidden Science of Fighting Outbreaks," .

What's more, September usually has the highest number of AFM cases, she added. So far this year, there have been 13 confirmed AFM cases in 10 states, . Since 2014, when AFM was first identified, som.