Polio is back: Virus detected in London sewage samples, health officials say

Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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British health officials are urging the public to ensure polio vaccines are up to date after the virus was discovered during routine London sewage testing.

The last case of polio in the United Kingdom was detected in 1984, making the current outbreak the first transmission in more than 40 years.

The UK Health and Security Agency on Wednesday reported the virus was detected in sewage from North and East London in February and April, suggesting there had been spread between individuals.

So far no cases have been found, the health agency announced in a statement.

The U.K. was declared polio-free in 2003, health officials wrote in the news release.

Officials also said the risk of infection from the disease, which causes paralysis in children in under 1% of cases, was also low because of high vaccination rates.

But the agency is recommending anyone who missed being vaccinated against the virus do so.

"Most of the UK population will be protected from vaccination in childhood, but in some communities with low vaccine coverage, individuals may remain at risk," UK Health and Security Agency Consultant Epidemiologist Vanessa Saliba said in a statement.

Jane Clegg, chief nurse for the National Health Service in London said most people in the city are fully protected against polio and won’t need to take further action but the National Health Service in the city will begin contacting parents of children under five who are not immunized.

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Short for poliomyelitis, polio is a disabling and life-threatening disease spread from person to person mainly through contamination by feces, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is no cure, only a vaccination.

In the early 1950s, the CDC reports, before polio vaccines were available, polio outbreaks caused more than 15,000 cases of paralysis each year.

The United States has been polio-free since 1979, the CDC reports.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Polio virus detected in London sewage samples, vaccination recommended