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Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a rare but serious syndrome — a pattern of symptoms — that causes sudden limb weakness, mostly in children. Since CDC began tracking it in 2014, there have been three national outbreaks.
What is known
- Most patients developed AFM in late summer or early fall.
- Most had respiratory symptoms or fever, consistent with a viral infection, less than a week before the weakness began.
- CDC believes viruses, including enteroviruses, play a role.
- There is no proven way to treat or prevent AFM yet.
| By the numbers (CDC Vital Signs, July 2019) | |
|---|---|
| Cases since 2014 | 570, mostly children |
| Outbreak pattern | every two years from 2014, in late summer and early fall |
| Where | 48 states and D.C. since 2014; 41 states in 2018 |
| Average patient age (2018) | 5 |
| Average delay before CDC got a report | 18 days after limb weakness began |
On average, CDC received reports of suspected AFM cases 18 days after patient’s limb weakness began.
Image from CDC's Vital Signs
Image from CDC's Vital Signs, July 2019
Can you quickly recognize symptoms of acute flaccid myelitis? — a CDC Vital Signs video.
Why speed matters
AFM is rare and no lab test can yet diagnose it, so it is hard to recognize. Recognizing it early lets clinicians get patients the best care — treatment and rehabilitation — collect specimens that help explain its causes, and report cases quickly so outbreaks are detected. Prompt recognition, specimen collection and reporting are all needed to learn its risk factors, outcomes, treatments and prevention.
For clinicians: timing is key
- Recognize it early. Suspect AFM in anyone with acute flaccid limb weakness, especially after a respiratory illness or fever, and between August and October.
- Collect specimens, then get an MRI. Take cerebrospinal fluid, serum, stool and a nasopharyngeal swab as soon as possible, and handle and store them properly.
- Report rapidly. If the MRI shows a spinal lesion with some gray matter involvement, alert the health department and send specimens and medical records.
- Manage. Hospitalize immediately, refer to specialists, watch for worsening, and start treatment and rehabilitation — don't wait for CDC's case classification to diagnose.
Image from CDC's Vital Signs
Neurologists who specialize in AFM can help with diagnosis and management through the AFM Physician Consult and Support Portal; CDC can answer questions about reporting and specimens.
Everyone's role
| Who | What |
|---|---|
| CDC | tracks trends and symptoms, researches risk factors, runs advanced lab testing on how viral infections may lead to AFM, and follows long-term outcomes |
| Health departments | work with CDC to gather records, MRI images and specimens and classify cases; inform clinicians and the public |
| Parents | seek medical care immediately if a child develops sudden arm or leg weakness |
Sources
Based on "Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM)," Vital Signs, July 9, 2019, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The page gives the 2018 case count as both 232 and 233, so it is not given here. Pictures an earlier version of this page left out were restored on 2026-09-26. The video, missing when the page was imported, is restored from the Internet Archive's copies of CDC's files (2026-09-27).
Lizenz: CC0 1.0 (gemeinfrei) · Bearbeitet nach www.cdc.gov
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