Health officials report new case of polio-like illness

SEATTLE — Health officials say a ninth child has been hospitalized in Washington state for a polio-like illness.

KOMO-TV reports the ninth child is from Snohomish County and was recently admitted to Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Julie Graham of the health department says two of the nine children were confirmed with a rare virus known as acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM. The other seven children are being evaluated.

One of the children died over the weekend. AFM is a possible cause of his death but hasn’t been confirmed.

His parents said he was sent to the hospital with cold symptoms and dizziness. He was paralyzed within a few hours and never recovered.

Washington state had no cases of AFM last year and two in 2014. At least one of those two patients is paralyzed from the neck down.