Currently the centers for disease control is determining whether or not a young child in Douglas County has the disease that is compared to polio.
The Center for Disease Control has recently told doctors and local health departments to alert the public about acute flacid myleitis, or A.F.M.
"We think it's probably an infection because it appears to be spreading person to person," says Simonsen.
UNMC doctor Kari Simonsen says plenty of research needs to be done on AFM, but they do know the illness has appeared every other year and that it mimics the pattern of intro-viruses.
"That's the same family that the polio viruses were from historically and the features of AFM are a bit like polio. Although not caused by polio viruses in particular," says Dr. Kari Simonsen, Dept of Pediatrics at UNMC/Children's Hospital.
It's an illness that especially targets children, with the average age of just four years old. Douglas County has reported one suspected case involving a young child. That diagnosis is currently being investigated by the CDC.
Douglas County Health Department spokesman Phil Rooney says there's one thing to particular look out for.
"I think it's very important for the public to know that it's extremely rare. If you do have it in can be extremely serious. So if you have a child that is showing signs of weakness of limbs, you should probably go see a doctor immediately," says Rooney.
Researchers are trying to gather more facts about the illness, and how to cure it.
"I think parents most often wants to know what that long term outcome looks like for their kid. For me, I think the most important thing for us to find out more about is more of a complete picture of what this illness looks like in the long-term for all patients," says Simonsen.
Several other states have at least one confirmed case of AFM, including Iowa.
