Cash-strapped public health services toil to fight poliolike illness hitting kids
(WorldNews Health)

Michael Ollove | Special To The Washington Post The mysterious, poliolike disease that has struck more than 480 people — mostly young children — across the United States since 2014 comes at a time when the U.S. public health system is already overstretched. Reported in 46 states and the District of Columbia, acute flaccid myelitis, known as AFM, causes muscle weakness and in some cases paralysis in the arms or legs, terrifying parents and puzzling medical researchers. More than 90 percent of those affected are children. The disease has flared while state and federal governments largely have stopped making new investments in public health. Some infectious disease experts think the...