Five Polio Cases Confirmed Last Week

When the U.S. CDC reissued a Level 2 - Practice Enhanced Precautions, Travel Health Notice in August 2025, it identified 39 countries at-risk for the spread of poliovirus. 

According to recent reports, polio cases continue to be reported this year.

As of October 16, 2025, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) confirmed five new polio cases over the past week.

One wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in Afghanistan (Uruzgan) and vaccine-derived cases in Nigeria (2), Angola (1), and Laos (1).

With the latest case, Afghanistan now has seven WPV 1 cases in 2025, after confirming 25 for all of 2024.

Nigeria's cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 are now at 37 for the year, while Angola has 12.

Additionally, the GPEI also published an action plan on polio.

The 2026 Action Plan, developed through extensive consultation and grounded in the latest data, sets out how GPEI will focus activities where they will have the most significant impact, making deliberate, sometimes challenging choices to minimize risk, safeguard hard-won gains, and maintain progress toward a polio-free world.

Both the GPEI and the CDC say polio is a vaccine-preventable disease.

As of October 18, 2025, the CDC recommends that before any international travel, you make sure you are up to date on your polio vaccines, which are available at travel clinics and pharmacies in the USA.