US EditionWild form of polio found in German sewage sample, health institute says
The Robert Koch Institute's detection of wild poliovirus in sewage highlights effective surveillance; no human cases reported and vaccination coverage keeps population risk very low.
- On Wednesday, the Robert Koch Institute said poliovirus type 1 was detected in a Germany sewage sample and WHO said it appeared associated with the virus in Afghanistan.
- RKI reported vaccine-derived detections in recent years, noting wastewater surveillance tracks polio globally while some countries lack active polio tracking.
- RKI said the risk to the German general population is very low, citing high vaccination coverage and isolated detections, while Oliver Rosenbauer noted the finding came more than 30 years after last wild cases.
- Despite reductions, global eradication efforts face challenges as vaccine-derived poliovirus circulates in more countries, stemming from rare mutations of weakened live vaccines used for immunisation.
- Wild polio remains confined to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the World Health Organization said this is the first wild environmental detection in Europe, highlighting limited geographic persistence.
35 Articles
35 Articles
The one found in Hamburg is not the one inactivated by vaccine but the one that can give disease. And it is a wake-up call, although no clinical cases have been reported at the moment.
In Hamburg's waste water, the polio wild virus, the pathogen of polio, was found. It was considered to be eradicated in Germany. Experts say that.
A wild form of polio has been found in a wastewater sample from Hamburg, German authorities said on Thursday. A working group has been set up to investigate the finding and more samples are planned. The last cases of polio in Germany were recorded more than 30 years ago. The wild form is only found in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In fact, polio wild viruses only occur in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Germany, the pathogens that can lead to polio have not been detected for a long time. Now there is evidence.
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