Germany Confirms 11 Additional Poliovirus Detections

In 2024, many European countries detected poliovirus in wastewater systems, signaling the once-eradicated disease's potential resurgence.

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), poliovirus continues to be detected in Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sachsen, and Bayern, Germany. As of January 15, 2025, eleven circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2-positive environmental samples were collected in November and December 2024.

This pathogen is not the wild poliovirus type but originates from the oral polio vaccine, which contains weakened but live polioviruses. The weakened vaccine viruses can be excreted and spread by vaccinated people.

Germany's last case of wild poliovirus was recorded in 1990.

The GPEI has confirmed that various countries have also reported cases of wild polio, vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1.

On January 15, 2025, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified 39 countries at-risk for polio. This CDC list does not include Germany or the United Kingdom.

Last year, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, commented in a press release, “For over 20 years, sustained efforts to achieve high vaccination coverage, quality surveillance, and rapid outbreak response have prevented the virus from re-establishing in this Region. These efforts must be commended, but also intensified as challenges to our collective defense against this virus increase.” 

The CDC and the WHO recommend that all travelers to polio-affected areas in 2025 be fully vaccinated, and some people may qualify for a polio vaccine booster dose.