Polio Travel Advisory Issued for 37 Countries

According to this week's Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) report, various countries confirmed poliovirus detections and vaccination efforts.

As of early September 2024, a two-round polio vaccination campaign was launched in the Palestinian territory, providing more than 640,000 children with two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) vaccine.

Additionally, new polioviruses cases and positive environmental isolates were detected in the following countries as of September 4, 2024:

Afghanistan: 1 WPV1 case

Pakistan:  8 WPV1-positive environmental samples

Côte d’Ivoire: 1 cVDPV2-positive environmental sample

DR Congo: two cVDPV2 cases

Egypt:  1 cVDPV2-positive environmental sample

Indonesia:  3 cVDPV2 cases

Niger:  2 cVDPV2 cases and 3 cVDPV2-positive environmental samples

Nigeria:  7 cVDPV2 cases and 1 cVDPV2-positive environmental sample

South Sudan:  2 cVDPV2-positive environmental samples

Sudan:  1 cVDPV2-positive environmental sample

To alert international travelers of their potential polio risk, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reissued a Global Polio Alert - Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions Travel Health Notice on August 20, 2024, regarding polio outbreaks and poliovirus detections in 37 countries.

The CDC says that before traveling to any destination listed, adults who have previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series may receive a single, lifetime booster dose of the polio vaccine.

Polio vaccination services are generally available to local clinics and community pharmacies in the U.S.