Global Polio Advisory Issued by CDC

The CDC's Level 2 advisory means travelers should practice enhanced precautions, but travel is not discouraged. This includes ensuring routine vaccinations are up to date and receiving a single lifetime booster dose of the polio vaccine if previously vaccinated. Travelers should also maintain strict hygiene practices and avoid consuming unsafe food or water. Recent wastewater analysis has detected poliovirus in the UK, Spain, and Germany. The WHO European Region has been polio-free since 2002, but poliovirus can be imported and cause outbreaks if it reaches unvaccinated individuals. The CDC recommends that all travelers be up to date on routine polio vaccinations before any international trip. The detected poliovirus in Europe is often a vaccine-derived strain. This strain is genetically linked to one that emerged in Nigeria. While no cases of paralytic polio have been reported, these detections suggest potential silent transmission in communities with low vaccination rates. The UK switched from the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) in 2004. The IPV does not carry the risk of the virus regaining the ability to spread. However, global travel and migration can introduce strains from regions where OPV is still used.