Federal health officials have issued an urgent travel warning over a ‘crippling and deadly disease.’ 

The CDC issued travel advisories for the UK, Germany, Finland, Poland and Spain where cases of polio, a highly infectious virus that spreads through airborne droplets and feces and attacks the nervous system, are circulating.

While the virus lurks silently for most people, severe cases can lead to muscle weakness and stiffness, spasms, trouble swallowing and full-body paralysis.

Polio can also paralyze the lungs and other muscles responsible for breathing, leading to death.

It was wiped out of the US in 1979, two decades after the advent of the polio vaccine, and only sporadic cases have popped up on American soil since.

Polio has been detected in 39 total countries and territories within the last year, most of which are in Africa and the Middle East, according to the latest CDC data.

Vaccines are routinely offered in the five countries where polio is circulating and it’s unclear exactly where the virus was detected, but it’s possible it was found in wastewater from asymptomatic infected individuals.

The CDC’s level 2 travel advisory urges Americans traveling to these countries to take ‘enhanced’ protections like being up to date on the polio vaccine or getting a booster ahead of travel.

Polio is a nervous system disease that was once the most feared in the world before vaccines were introduced in the 1950s. Pictured above is a polio patient in 1947

Poliovirus spreads through droplets from sneezing and coughing, as well as feces

The agency said: ‘Before any international travel, make sure you are up to date on your polio vaccines.’

The UK’s last confirmed case of polio was in 1984, but it was last detected in wastewater in 2022. The entire European region was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization in 2002.

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious nervous system disease spread by the poliovirus, which targets nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain stem.

Naturally-occurring poliovirus, or wild-type poliovirus, has been eradicated from the US and most developed countries, while another version derived from vaccines is more common but still rare.

People carrying poliovirus can spread it through droplets from sneezing or coughing and feces.

While about nine in 10 people with polio don’t develop symptoms, around five percent report mild flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, sore throat, nausea and vomiting. This is called ‘abortive polio.’

Around one percent of patients develop nonparalytic polio, which causes more severe flu-like symptoms, neck and spine stiffness, decreased reflexes and muscle weakness.

Nonparalytic polio can progress to paralytic polio, the most serious form of the disease. It leads to intense pain, extreme sensitivity to touch, tingling sensations, muscle spasms of twitching and paralysis.

Paralytic polio can affect any limb or organ, but if it spreads to the lungs, it could lead to deadly breathing issues.

The CDC said in its advisory: ‘Polio can be fatal if the muscles used for breathing are paralyzed or if there is an infection of the brain.’

Paul Alexander of Texas (pictured here) was paralyzed from polio at age six. He used an iron lung machine for most of his life to breathe before his death in 2024 at age 78

Polio infections have been eradicated from developed nations like the US, but it has been shown to be circulating in 39 nations, including five in Europe. Pictured above is a child in Pakistan receiving an oral polio vaccine

The last confirmed case of polio in the US was in 2022 in an unvaccinated adult from Rockland County, New York, just outside of New York City.

The unidentified individual reported a fever, stiff neck, constipation and back and abdominal pain.

Further testing found at least 21 positive samples of the virus in wastewater samples in several surrounding counties, though there were no further confirmed cases.

The latest CDC data shows 92.5 percent of children in the US have had at least three doses of the polio vaccine. Children receive four total doses by age six, which protects them for life.

Additional doses may be given to adults traveling to high-risk countries.

The CDC recommends children and adult travelers to an at-risk region get a polio vaccine booster and wash their hands frequently to prevent polio from spreading.