CDC Issues Travel Advisory for 32 Countries, Including Several in Europe, Over Spread of Paralyzing Disease

The CDC is encouraging Americans traveling abroad to make sure they are up to date on their polio vaccines

A travel alert has been issued warning Americans to take precautions against polio, which is spreading in Europe and elsewhere across the globe.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a level 2 alert, cautioning travelers to “practice enhanced precautions” before visiting 32 countries. The agency is advising people to make sure they’re up to date on their polio vaccines, adding that people who plan to travel to the listed countries are eligible for a single-dose booster of the vaccine.

The countries include European travel destinations like Spain, Finland, Germany, and Poland — as well as the U.K.

As the CDC explains, polio‚ which is caused by the extremely contagious poliovirus, is “a crippling and potentially deadly disease that affects the nervous system.” It lives in the feces of an infected person, but can also be spread via eating or drinking food that’s been contaminated.  

Most people who contract polio do not exhibit symptoms — or if they do, they experience flu-like fevers, tiredness, nausea, headache, nasal congestion, and sore throat.

In some cases, polio can lead to paralysis, as it did with U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who needed a wheelchair after he contracted the disease. 

The CDC says that “vaccination has helped eliminate wild poliovirus in the United States.” It’s a four-dose series of shots given throughout childhood. 

The full list of countries where polio is spreading includes Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Finland, Gaza, Germany, Ghana, Guinea, Israel, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Melinda

Reference:

https://people.com/travel-advisory-issued-warning-of-spread-of-polio-11919347