Wild poliovirus has been confirmed in sewage samples collected from the German city of Hamburg.
According to German authorities, the detection of poliovirus in sewage marks a concerning development for global efforts aimed at eradicating this life-threatening disease, and is being viewed as a significant setback in the worldwide polio-prevention campaign.
Germany’s Ministry of Health stated that the confirmation of poliovirus in sewage indicates that surveillance and preventive monitoring systems are functioning effectively, enabling timely detection of the virus.
The ministry further clarified that no human case of polio has been reported in Germany so far, and the country remains free of clinical poliovirus cases.
It is noteworthy that the detection of poliovirus in German sewage has occurred more than 30 years after the last confirmed polio case in the country.
Germany successfully eliminated polio in 2010, and no new cases have appeared since then. However, as an additional preventative measure, the German government introduced enhanced monitoring in 2021 to ensure the continued protection of its population against poliovirus.
According to the World Health Organization, this is the first confirmed detection of poliovirus in any European country since 2010, making it a significant and alarming public health development.
Types of Poliovirus
There are two main types of poliovirus found worldwide. The first is wild poliovirus, which is now extremely rare and currently found only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The poliovirus recently detected in Germany’s sewage is genetically linked to the strain circulating in Afghanistan. This same strain was previously identified in Malawi and Mozambique in 2022.
The virus has also been detected in several countries considered polio-free. Since 2022, routine sampling in European countries such as Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom has revealed traces of the virus.
The second type is vaccine-derived poliovirus, which circulates in multiple countries. It emerges in rare instances through mutations in weakened live viruses used in oral polio vaccines.
Vaccine-derived poliovirus has also recently been detected in several countries previously declared polio-free, including Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom in 2022.
