CLAIM: Polio has been found in New York City tap water.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The virus that causes polio has been detected in New York sewage samples, not tap water. Sewage (also known as wastewater) and tap water flow through separate systems, which eliminates the possibility of tap water being contaminated by sewage, city and state officials told The Associated Press.

THE FACTS: The New York City and New York state health departments announced Friday that poliovirus has been found in city sewage samples. Shortly afterward, a post claiming that polio had been found in the city’s tap water began spreading on social media.

“Under Biden, they are now finding Polio in tap water,” reads the post, which received more than 112,000 likes on Instagram. “Congratulations, your vote has put us in a third world state all because you don’t like ‘mean tweets.’” It includes a screenshot of a tweet featuring a promotional video in which Mayor Eric Adams touts the city’s tap water. The tweet captions the Adams video: “Do you all remember that time when Mayor Adam’s told everyone in New York City to drink the tap water? Anyways, they found Polio in the New York City water.”

But poliovirus was found in sewage samples, not tap water, and people cannot contract polio by drinking the city’s tap water, multiple city and state officials said.

“New Yorkers should know that wastewater is not the same as drinking water, and it cannot be a source of infection or transmission,” Samantha Fuld, a...

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