A CDC global travel advisory issued for polio has been updated, warning American travelers to take precautions when traveling to more than two dozen countries.
The agency updated its level 2 travel advisories for 29 nations, including European destinations Germany and the UK, urging Americans traveling to those nations to ‘practice enhanced precautions.’
‘The international destinations have circulating poliovirus,’ the CDC stated. ‘ This list is comprised of countries that have detected poliovirus in humans or environmental samples in the past 13 months.’
Polio is a highly infectious virus that spreads through airborne droplets and feces and it attacks the nervous system. While the virus lurks silently for most people, severe cases can lead to muscle weakness and stiffness, spasms, trouble swallowing and full-body paralysis.
Polio can also paralyze the lungs and other muscles responsible for breathing, leading to death.
In Germany, polio has been detected in wastewater samples in several locations, including Munich, Mainz , Frankfurt and Cologne.
Additionally, wild poliovirus was detected in a wastewater sample in Hamburg in October 2025. Analysis showed it was similar to a strain circulating in Afghanistan.
In the UK, polio was detected in wastewater samples in London earlier this year.
The agency updated its level 2 travel advisories for 29 nations, including European destinations Germany and the UK. Pictured above is 2026 Munich Oktoberfest in Germany this month
The full list of countries included in the advisory are Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Germany, Israel, Laos, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, United Kingdom, Yemen and Zambia.
The CDC did not specify how many – if any – human cases had been recorded in any of the countries on the list.
Polio was eradicated from the US in 1979, just over two decades after the advent of the polio vaccine, and only sporadic cases have popped up on American soil since.
The polio vaccine is part of routine childhood vaccinations in both Germany and the UK, but it is less common in many of the African nations.
The vaccine, which contains an inactivated version of poliovirus, is 99 to 100 percent effective. It is administered in the US as a four-dose series for children at two months, four months, six to 18 months and four to six years. The complete series protects individuals for life.
The latest CDC data shows 92.5 percent of children in the US have had at least three doses of the polio vaccine.
According to the CDC, the 1988 launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has decreased worldwide polio cases by 99 percent, and the shots have prevented 20 million cases of paralysis in children.
As part of the advisory, the CDC urged Americans traveling to any of the listed countries to stay up to date on polio vaccines and consider getting one lifetime booster, along with completing the full vaccine series.
The agency also recommended frequent hand washing to prevent polio from spreading.
The poliovirus targets nerve cells in the spinal cord and brainstem. People carrying it can spread the virus through droplets from sneezing or coughing and feces.
The above map shows the countries that the updated CDC level 2 travel advisory applies to
While about nine in ten people with polio do not develop symptoms, around five percent report mild flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, nausea and vomiting. This is called ‘abortive polio.’
Around one percent of patients develop nonparalytic polio, which causes more severe flu-like symptoms, neck and spine stiffness, decreased reflexes and muscle weakness.
Nonparalytic polio can progress to paralytic polio, the most serious form of the disease. It leads to intense pain, extreme sensitivity to touch, tingling sensations, muscle spasms or twitching and paralysis.
Paralytic polio can affect any limb or organ, but if it spreads to the lungs, it could lead to deadly breathing issues.
The CDC said in its advisory: ‘Polio can be fatal if the muscles used for breathing are paralyzed or if there is an infection of the brain.’
The last confirmed case of polio in the US was in 2022 in an unvaccinated adult from Rockland County, New York, just outside of New York City.
The unidentified individual reported a fever, stiff neck, constipation and back and abdominal pain.
