http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/10/evidence-links-poliolike-disease-children-common-type-virus > In 2016, Braden Scott (right) developed acute flaccid myelitis, a paralyzing condition researchers have linked to a relatively common viral infection. > Researchers seeking the cause of mysterious cases of childhood paralysis seem to be closing in on a culprit. Since 2014, more than 500 children in the United States have suddenly lost muscle control in their arms and legs, a condition called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), which can cause permanent disability. But the leading explanation—that a normally mild viral infection occasionally results in AFM—has been hard to prove. A new analysis of young patients’ spinal fluid now offers evidence linking a group of common viruses known as enteroviruses to AFM. But questions remain about how such viruses damage nerves and why they seem to do so only rarely.