Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Detected in England

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) today reported vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) has been detected in an environmental sewage sample collected in Yorkshire and the Humber, in northern England, home to about 5.6 million people.

As of September 16, 2025, the GPEi confirmed that this is the second VDPV2-positive environmental sample reported in the United Kingdom in 2025.

The GPEI says VDPV2 is a strain related to the weakened live poliovirus contained in the oral polio vaccine. If allowed to circulate in under- or unimmunized populations for long enough, or replicate in an immunodeficient individual, the weakened virus can revert to a form that causes illness and paralysis.

The U.S. CDC's Global Polio Travel Health Notice says that Most people with polio do not feel sick. Some people have only minor symptoms, such as fever, tiredness, nausea, headache, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the arms and legs. In rare cases, polio infection causes permanent loss of muscle function.

The CDC did include the UK among the 39 countries identified in this Level 2 travel alert.

As of November 18, 2025, the CDC recommends that before traveling to any destination listed, adults who previously completed the complete, routine polio vaccine series may receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine.

In the USA, the IPV vaccine is offered at clinics and travel pharmacies.