Rare Disease Diagnosed in Six Minnesota Children

AFM affects less than one in a million people every year in the U.S.

DULUTH, Minn. – At least six children have been diagnosed with a rare disease in Minnesota.

We’re told it’s similar to polio because it can cause paralysis.

Health officials don’t know much about the disease known as Acute Flaccid Myelitis or AFM.

What they do know is that it’s typically rare. The CDC reports less than one in a million people get it every year in the United States, but it’s recently caused paralysis in several Minnesota children.

Outbreaks of the disease have happened before. According to the CDC, 362 cases of AFM have been reported since 2014. Almost every case in the past few years has affected children under the age of 13.

It’s thought to be caused by a virus, but that has not been confirmed.

Doctors tell us it’s a mystery why the disease affects some children and not others, but they say the chance of it happening to any one child is extremely low.

“There’s always rare manifestations of any virus infection so, what you’re seeing here, if it’s confirmed to be a virus infection, it’s a rare manifestation,” said Dr. Rajesh Prabhu, M.D., an infectious disease physician at Essentia Health in Duluth. “Most people that get this virus infection, they don’t get paralysis.”

AFM causes muscles to weaken. Symptoms include weakness in the arms or legs, difficulty swallowing, and slurred speech.

The disease has no known cure.

If your child is having any out of the ordinary symptoms, it’s always a good idea to take the child in to see a doctor.

The CDC is conducting an investigation into the cause of the disease.