MidHudson News is reporting that the State Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control has tested two weeks of sample wastewater taken from Kingston and New Paltz, and the results were negative for poliovirus. The testing will now continue to be a regular part of wastewater surveillance in Kingston and New Paltz. “Polio is preventable through safe and effective vaccination, and I strongly encourage all residents who are not vaccinated for polio to call their doctor and get vaccinated without delay,” said Acting Ulster County Executive Johanna Contreras. County Health Commissioner Dr. Carol Smith said, “While the polio testing results for Ulster County are negative, it doesn’t mean that our community is immune from polio in the long term. Getting all of your children vaccinated is the best and only way to protect them from this serious disease.” She urged every person to check with their physician’s office, to make sure that everyone in the family is up to date with polio, and all other essential vaccinations. In New York State, wastewater is now being tested for the presence of the virus that causes polio. Unvaccinated residents or those not up to date with immunizations who live, work, go to school in, or visit Rockland County, Orange County, Sullivan County, New York City, and Nassau County are at the highest risk of contracting the paralytic disease. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.