Assessing the risk to public health of multiple detections of poliovirus in wastewater in the EU/EEA

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious disease caused by polioviruses, which can be prevented by vaccination. Polioviruses can be transmitted easily and silently across wide geographic areas. Most infected people do not develop symptoms, but if the virus invades the nervous system it can cause acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) within hours. Fewer than 1% of infections lead to irreversible paralysis. As the last indigenous case caused by an infection with wild poliovirus in Europe was reported in 1998, it has become a forgotten disease for mos

Source: op.europa.eu