Poliomyelitis, paralytic is a severe infectious disease caused by the poliovirus, an enterovirus. It primarily affects young children and can lead to permanent muscle paralysis. While once a global scourge, it is now rare in most parts of the world due to widespread vaccination.
Transmission methods vary. Please consult CDC or WHO resources for specific information.
Contagious Period: Varies by disease
Real-time intelligence from global health monitoring and AI-powered surveillance
Data sources: BEACON, ProMED, WHO, CDC, and 50+ national health agencies
✓ Live data updated in real-time from global health sources
Peshawar, Apr 13 (PTI) A police constable was killed and four other personnel were injured after unidentified militants opened fire on a security contingent deployed to protect a polio vaccination team in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, officials said.
The incident took place in the Chapri Waziran area under the jurisdiction of Thall police station in Hangue district on the first day of a province-wide anti-polio campaign.
According to a statement issued by the district police
📰 36 news sources reporting on this story.
ISLAMABAD: While 27 million children out of targeted 45m have been vaccinated against polio during the ongoing immunisation drive across the country, the Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) has expressed deep concern and condemned three attacks on security personnel escorting polio teams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
In separate incidents in Bannu, Hangu and Nasirabad, polio teams and accompanying security personnel were targeted by unidentified militants. In Nasirabad, a police
📰 28 news sources reporting on this story.
ISLAMABAD: First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari has urged public cooperation as the nationwide anti-polio campaign is set to begin from April 13.
The week-long campaign aims to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five across all provinces and regions as part of the ongoing efforts to eradicate polio.
In a statement released on Sunday, Aseefa called on families and communities across Pakistan to fully cooperate with the upcoming nationwide polio vaccination campaign to ensure that ev
📰 23 news sources reporting on this story.
Namibia declared a polio outbreak after circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was detected in environmental samples from Windhoek and Gobabis, following earlier detection in Rundu in November 2025, with no confirmed paralytic cases reported to date. Health authorities initiated a third nationwide vaccination campaign targeting children aged ≤10 years, while genetically related detections in Zambia and Malawi indicate ongoing regional circulation and cross-border transmission risk.
Source: BEACON - View Full Report
The government is cutting contributions at a critical stage in the campaign to eradicate the disease, writes Gillian Russell
It is extremely disheartening to read that after 2026, the UK government is to end its contributions to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), putting at risk the great efforts that have been made over the last 40 years to improve the health and wellbeing of children across the world (Polio virus detected in London days before ministers cut global eradication fund
📰 31 news sources reporting on this story.
Following a rise in reported polio cases in states bordering Niger State, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency (NSPHCDA) have appealed to parents and guardians to allow their children receive vaccination in the ongoing immunisation campaign.
The vaccination exercise scheduled for 25 local government areas of the state is said to be part of efforts to curb the spread of polio and strengthen public awareness about the disease.
A So
📰 11 news sources reporting on this story.
India has a long history of eradicating and eliminating serious disease burdens through well-planned and well-executed campaigns. From the eradication of smallpox in the 1950s to the more recent Pulse Polio drives, these campaigns were designed for success. That same discipline and public trust will now determine the success of HPV vaccination.
The Indian Cancer Society has long been concerned about the devastation caused by cervical cancer. The statistics on files represent real women to the So
📰 11 news sources reporting on this story.
Published on March 10, 2026
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently issued a Level 2 travel health advisory for polio, urging travelers to take additional precautions when visiting regions where the virus is still circulating. Polio, a potentially life-threatening viral infection, can lead to severe complications, including paralysis. This advisory comes at a time when efforts to eradicate polio are still ongoing, and the need for increased vigilance among both traveler
📰 13 news sources reporting on this story.
The Katsina State Government has announced plans to immunise no fewer than three million children against the polio virus in the March 2026 vaccination campaign across all 361 wards in the state's 34 local government areas.
The Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Agency, Shamsudeen Yahaya, disclosed this during a media dialogue, sensitisation, and mobilisation event on Monday in Katsina.
He said the exercise would target children aged 0-59 months across 19,790 settlements in th
📰 17 news sources reporting on this story.
Since the last case of wild poliovirus in 1984 and the formal polio-free certification in 2003, the UK has relied on inactivated polio vaccine-based routine immunization to sustain population immunity, but vaccine coverage has decreased from 95% to 92% over the past decade. Between 2024 and March 2026, 10 environmental detections of vaccine-derived poliovirus have been recorded in sewage.
Source: BEACON - View Full Report
Track Poliomyelitis, paralytic and 200+ other diseases with personalized alerts
Trusted information from leading health organizations
Global disease surveillance and guidelines from the World Health Organization
View WHO Resources →Disease information on Virus Watcher is reviewed by our Chief Epidemiologist, a former CDC lead analyst for FluSight forecasting. Outbreak data is aggregated from verified sources including BEACON, ProMED, WHO, CDC, and 50+ national health agencies. This information is for educational purposes and should not replace professional medical advice.
Last reviewed: 2026-04-20
Get real-time alerts and intelligence on Poliomyelitis, paralytic and 200+ other diseases. Used by healthcare systems, EMS, schools, and travelers worldwide.