Acute flaccid myelitis in Canada, 2018 to 2019

Starting in 2014, biennial clusters of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), frequently described as "polio-like" illness, have been reported across the United States and elsewhere, often linked to enteroviruses. To assess AFM trends in Canada, we reviewed the Canadian Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance System (CAFPSS) for cases reported during the 2018 and 2019 calendar years that meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case definitions for AFM. A total of 10 cases (8 in 2018 and 2 in 2019) met the confirmed AFM case definition and 30 (26 in 2018 and 4 in 2019) met the probable AFM case definition. Sixty percent of confirmed and probable cases were younger than five years old, and all cases had symptom onset between the months of July and October. Enteroviruses were detected in 50% of confirmed cases. At the time of writing this report, 2020 AFM data were not yet available; it is unknown if a spike in AFM cases will be seen in 2020.