Get the latest from TODAY Sign up for our newsletter 
 
 / Source: TODAY By A. Pawlowski 
 
 A mystery illness that leaves children barely able to move is on the rise again, two years after an outbreak alarmed doctors and parents. 
 
 There have been 50 cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) reported across 24 states so far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday. Though the syndrome is still rare, that's more than double compared to 2015, when 21 cases were confirmed for the whole year. 
 
 AFM can be caused by a variety of germs, such as enteroviruses, which are common and typically cause milder illnesses in children such as respiratory infections. However, when enteroviruses get into the central nervous system, they can cause more serious illnesses like inflammation of the brain. 
 
 AFM affects the spinal cord, but the exact trigger is often elusive and there’s no specific treatment, according to the CDC. 
 
 Symptoms include: 
 
 limb weakness 
 
 facial droop 
 
 difficulty breathing or swallowing, or slurred speech 
 
 The best prevention is to wash your hands, stay up-to-date on vaccinations and protect yourself from mosquitoes — since the mosquito-borne West Nile virus is linked to AFM — the CDC advises. 
 
 The illness seemed to peak in 2014, with 120 cases reported between August and December — all children. 
 
 The average age for children stricken with AFM is 7 and many had to be placed on respirators. Although 85 percent of the children recovered partially, only three have fully recovered, according to the CDC. 
 
 Related: New strain of enterovirus may have caused mystery paralysis 
 
 Laura Carson was a healthy, active 4-year-old before she suddenly developed acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in 2014. Courtesy Sara Carson 
 
 Sara Carson was among the families thrust into the medical mystery when her daughter Laura suddenly developed the polio-like paralysis. 
 
 “Every new case you see, the pit of your stomach drops out again,�? Carson, who lives in suburban Chicago, told TODAY. 
 
 “You flash back to that moment in time where you’re sitting in the hospital room thinking you don’t know where the next day is going to take you, or the next hour or the next minute.�? 
 
 Related: What parents need to know about enterovirus D68 
 
 Laura spent 25 days in the hospital. At her worst, she could only move parts of her left arm and left leg. Courtesy Sara Carson 
 
 In August 2014, Laura — then 4 — was playing at home when she suddenly developed a headache. When the little girl woke up the next morning with rapid shallow breathing, Carson took her to her pediatrician, but was told everything was fine. 
 
 Over the next few days, Carson noticed Laura was fatigued, lethargic and developed a tremor. The left side of Laura's face looked a little weaker. 
 
 Another alarming symptom showed up soon after. 
 
 “When she woke up, she asked me why the pillows were stacking themselves and why there were two of me, and at that point, I realized she was having double vision,�? Carson recalled. 
 
 The family rushed Laura to an emergency room, only to be told again that everything was fine. Once home, Laura’s head started to fall to the right and she could no longer lift her right arm, so the Carsons took her to a different hospital, where she was finally admitted. 
 
 By the next morning, Laura was like a limp rag doll, her mom said. When she tried to help the little girl out of bed, her head dropped back and her arms fell to the side. 
 
 Laura spent the next 25 days in the hospital, bedridden and unable to walk. At her worst, she could only move parts of her left arm and left leg. 
 
 “I kept looking at the doctors and saying, ‘She’s going to be OK, right?’ They would look at me and they couldn’t answer that question,�? Carson said. 
 
 “Nobody had a clue what was going on. … It’s fear because you don’t know: at some point, is this going to stop or are we looking at losing our daughter?�? 
 
 As she began to recover, Laura had to use a wheelchair. Courtesy Sara Carson 
 
 An MRI revealed lesions on Laura’s spine, a frequent finding in AFM cases. She was given steroids and made “teeny, tiny little gains,�? her mom said. Laura was released from the hospital just as a cluster of AFM cases among children in Colorado was coming to light. Laura’s neurologist said her case looked like an exact match, Carson noted. Some, but not all, of the children with AFM were diagnosed with enterovirus. Laura tested negative for it. 
 
 Meanwhile, the family tried to adjust to a new reality. 
 
 “If she wanted to play with her dolls, you’d have to literally hold her arm and lift it out for her and grasp it. It was all consuming to help her to try to be a kid again,�? she recalled. 
 
 An MRI revealed lesions on Laura's spine, a frequent finding in AFM cases. Courtesy Sara Carson 
 
 Months of rehabilitation followed, with Laura receiving intensive physical, speech and occupational therapy. She also took part in aquatic therapy and muscle stimulation; visited an acupuncturist and a homeopath; took various supplements and received chiropractic adjustments. 
 
 Two years later, Laura is doing much better. She still has weakness on the right side of her body, but she’s able to run, play and go to school. 
 
 Today, 6-year-old Laura is active again and continues to improve. Courtesy Sara Carson 
 
 “We’re very blessed. We’re one of the ‘lucky’ families in terms of how much return [to normal] we’ve received,�? Carson said. 
 
 “You just have to take it a day at a time and be thankful for every little blessing that you’re given and every little gain that you make.�? 
 
 Follow A. Pawlowski on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 / Updated By Lauren Dunn and Parminder Deo 
 
 Little Carter Roberts, of Chesterfield, Virginia, was a typical 3-year-old — playful, healthy, and active. But over the course of a weekend Carter went from his happy-go-lucky self to a paralyzed patient unable to move his arms or legs. 
 
 “He needed a tube to help him breath,” says his mother Robin Roberts. “Doctors were working really hard to try and figure out what was going on.” 
 
 At the hospital, the Roberts family was left with more questions than answers. Doctors considered a list of diagnoses from Guillain-Barré Syndrome to various other auto-immune diseases. Finally, after an MRI scan and hours of waiting, Carter was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) — a mysterious muscle weakness, similar to polio — that appears to be on the rise this year. 
 
 Carter Roberts and his two sisters before he was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis. Robin Roberts 
 
 On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, as of August 2016, there have been 50 cases of confirmed AFM across 24 states. That's nearly double over 2015, when 21 cases for the whole year were reported. 
 
 AFM has been linked to a strain of enterovirus that's now circulating again. Some doctors are warning this could be the same mysterious, polio-like illness detected in 2014 that paralyzed 120 children. 
 
 Related: CDC Develops Faster New Test For Enterovirus D68 
 
 Enteroviruses are common and typically cause milder illnesses in children, such as respiratory infections or even summer colds. However, when enteroviruses get into the central nervous system they can cause more serious illnesses like inflammation of the brain. 
 
 “August to October is typically when enteroviruses circulate,” says Dr. Kevin Messacar, pediatric infectious disease physician at Children's Hospital Colorado. “We see more acute flaccid myelitis during that season and we do seem to be seeing an increase in the cases that have been reported.” 
 
 “Acute flaccid myelitis is a very rare complication of an illness,” says Messacar. “I think it's important that we take it seriously because the effects of this condition appear to be long term and are disabling. 
 
 Related: New Strain of Enterovirus May Have Caused Mystery Paralysis 
 
 There are no vaccines for this strain of enterovirus, so doctors urge good hygiene as the best defense: 
 
 Cover your mouth when you cough and sneeze 
 
 Don’t go to work or school when you’re sick 
 
 Remain vigilant about hand washing 
 
 Carter, who was diagnosed in July, can now only move the left side of his face and wiggle a toe. He sticks his tongue out and blinks his eyes to certain questions. According to researchers, unfortunately there are still no proven effective therapies for this condition. However, speech therapy has given his mother hope. 
 
 Related: 6 Things to Know about Enterovirus 
 
 “I got to hear him talk and he said just a handful of words and as a mom, it was the sweetest sound ever,” says Robin. “I wake up and am hopeful every day that he's going to make some progress. It's hard not a feel a little bit robbed because this happened so quickly, but it was just a virus.” ||||| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning against a polio-like illness that is causing paralysis among an increasing number of Americans. 
 
 From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2016, the CDC reported 50 people in 24 U.S. states had been diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), compared with only 21 people in 2015 in 16 U.S. states. From August to December 2014, 120 people, mostly patients 21 and younger, in 34 U.S. states, were diagnosed with the condition. 
 
 AFM affects the nervous system, specifically the spinal cord, according to the CDC. The cause is unknown, but it has been linked to viral infections like polio and non-polio enteroviruses, adenoviruses, and the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. Enteroviruses can cause neurologic illness such as meningitis, but more serious disease like encephalitis and AFM are less common. 
 
 Symptoms of AFM include pain in the arms and legs, an inability to pass urine, and, most severely, respiratory failure that can occur when muscles involved in breathing become weak. The latter symptom can require urgent ventilator support, according to the CDC. There is no specific treatment for AFM, but rather neurologists may prescribe therapy on a case-by-case basis. 
 
 Although the AFM outbreak in 2014 coincided with an outbreak of enterovirus D68, the CDC did not detect traces of the severe respiratory virus in the AFM specimens collected that year. Among the people with AFM in 2015, the CDC also did not detect the virus in the specimens collected, and only limited sporadic cases of the virus have been detected in the United States in 2016. 
 
 As health officials investigate the current rise of AFM cases, to prevent illness, they are advising people wash their hands with soap and water, avoid close contact with sick people, and clean surfaces with a disinfectant, especially those that a sick person has touched.
– At first, it seemed like 4-year-old Laura Carson was suffering from a simple headache. Then came rapid shallow breathing, a tremor, double vision. Within days in August 2014, she was "a limp rag doll," reports Today—but it took doctors some time to diagnose her with acute flaccid myelitis, a rare disease the CDC warns is becoming increasingly more common. Not much is known about the polio-like disease that plagues mostly children, including what causes it. What is known is that AFM affects the spinal cord and causes weak limbs or paralysis, drooping in the face, and slurred speech or difficulty breathing. About 200 kids have been diagnosed since 2014, and this year's figures are especially troubling. The CDC reports 121 cases of AFM were confirmed in 2014, but that was followed by just 21 cases in 2015, reports Fox News. From January to August of this year, however, there were 50 confirmed cases in 24 states. Among that first spike of cases in 2014, the Washington Post reports that 85% of kids recovered partially, but only three recovered fully. A CDC study found 68% of patients had a fever and 81% had a respiratory illness before AFM symptoms appeared. Some had been diagnosed with the West Nile virus, and others with an enterovirus. "August to October is typically when enteroviruses circulate" and "we see more acute flaccid myelitis during that season," a doctor tells NBC News. Washing your hands and covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing are among the ways suggested to help. (Four siblings suffer from a mysterious disease.)