Polio
What is polio?
Who is at risk?
What can travelers do to prevent polio?
Traveler Information
Clinician Information
What is polio?
Polio is a disease caused by a virus that affects the nervous system and is mainly spread by person-to-person contact. Polio can also be spread by eating raw or undercooked food or drinking water or other drinks that are contaminated with the feces of an infected person.
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. Most people recover completely. In rare cases, polio infection causes permanent loss of muscle function (paralysis) in the arms or legs (usually the legs); death can occur if there is loss of function of the muscles used for breathing or infection of the brain.
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/diseases/poliomyelitis
