Poliovirus Detected in German Wastewater, Posing Very Low Risk Due too High Vaccination Rates
Berlin, Germany – Wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has been detected in a wastewater sample in Germany, health officials announced today.The virus’s genetic sequence shares a strong similarity with a cluster currently circulating in Afghanistan, where WPV1 remains endemic alongside Pakistan. This marks a rare instance of the virus being found outside of these two countries, following previous detections in environmental samples in Iran (2019), and confirmed cases in Malawi (2021) and Mozambique (2022).
Despite the detection, health authorities emphasize the risk to the European population is considered very low, attributed to consistently high vaccination rates throughout the region.
Polio has not yet been globally eradicated, and the possibility of reintroduction in Europe persists as long as vaccination coverage is not universal. All European Union/European Economic Area (EEA) countries maintain polio vaccination programs utilizing inactivated polio vaccines (IPV), with most reporting coverage exceeding 90%.
The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recommends the following actions for public health authorities:
* Maintain at least 90% polio vaccination coverage through routine programs, especially for young children.
* Identify and reach individuals with incomplete or unknown vaccination status.
* Implement culturally sensitive interventions and risk dialog to promote timely vaccination.
* Alert clinicians – especially pediatricians and neurologists – to be vigilant for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) syndromes and ensure AFP surveillance includes polio virus identification in faecal samples.
* Strengthen environmental surveillance for rapid virus detection.
The ECDC will continue to collaborate with national and international partners to monitor the situation and support efforts to sustain high vaccination levels.
