Local child diagnosed with rare polio-like illness acute flaccid myelitis

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — A mysterious illness that paralyzes children has been confirmed in our area.

A case of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, has been diagnosed in a Huntersville child.

Health officials haven't said how the child got sick.

The condition is so rare that less than 1 in a million people in the country get AFM each year.

There have been three cases reported in North Carolina this year.

The illness causes weakness in the arms or legs, similar to polio-like symptoms.

Ryan, a 2-year-old from Huntersville, was diagnosed in July before the illness made national headlines.

“We were shocked,” mother Roshanda Epps said. “When the term polio came into the picture we were completely taken aback."

Epps said her son an ear infection and a fever that just wouldn't go away, and when the fever finally broke, they noticed he couldn't use his arm.

"He was doing everything, only using one side,” Epps said. “Immediately, I thought it was a stroke."

A mother in Forsyth County told Channel 9 reporter Stephanie Tinoco that she was shocked when her 10-month-old son was diagnosed. She doesn’t know how her got the illness.

Related stories on AFM

Ciera Pennell said her son Isaiah one day just stopped using his left arm.

"It started out with a croup, coughing, fever, they gave steroids,” Pennell said. “It never went away and then he lost feeling of his arm."

Doctors diagnosed Isaiah with AFM last month.

The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention says 90 percent of the cases are in children.

Experts said some patients diagnosed with AFM have recovered quickly while others need continuous care.

There are differences in each case, but both families said a scan confirmed the diagnosis.

"An MRI did confirm he had inflammation in his spine,” Epps said.

Right now, there is no specific treatment for AFM and there's no vaccine to prevent it.

Both children are going through aggressive therapy.

"We're constantly,” Pennell said. “Like they said, ‘You know reminding him that his hands here to do this you know."

Pennell said she hopes doctors will find answers to what causes the illness, who may be at a higher risk of developing it and what the long-term effects are.

“It's the worst feeling ever in the whole world not knowing what is wrong with your son or your daughter, but also not knowing there might ever be a cure,” Pennell said.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com: