Poliomyelitis, paralytic is a severe infectious disease caused by the poliovirus, an enterovirus. It primarily affects young children and can lead to permanent muscle paralysis. While once a global scourge, it is now rare in most parts of the world due to widespread vaccination.
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Poliomyelitis has afflicted humans for millennia, with evidence found in ancient Egyptian mummies. The disease surged in epidemics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, causing widespread panic due to its paralytic effects. The development of effective vaccines in the 1950s by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin revolutionized public health, leading to a dramatic decline in cases and near-eradication efforts globally.
Poliomyelitis primarily spreads through the fecal-oral route, meaning the virus is shed in the feces of an infected person and then ingested by another. This can occur through contaminated food or water, or direct contact with feces from an infected person. Less commonly, it can spread via the oral-oral route (e.g., through droplets from a cough or sneeze).
Contagious Period: Varies by disease
Local health department information and state-specific prevention guidance
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For official state health alerts, vaccination locations, and public health guidance specific to Maine, visit your state health department's website.
Whether you live in Maine or are traveling there, knowing the symptoms, timeline, and when to seek care helps you act quickly if exposure occurs.
Seek care if you experience severe dehydration, bloody stools, high fever, or symptoms lasting more than 3 days. Children under 5, adults over 65, and immunocompromised individuals should seek care earlier.
Emergency symptoms: Severe dehydration, inability to keep fluids down for 12 or more hours, or neurological symptoms require emergency care.
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Trusted information from leading health organizations
Official guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
View CDC Resources →Global disease surveillance and guidelines from the World Health Organization
View WHO Resources →Disease information on Virus Watcher is reviewed by our Chief Epidemiologist, a former CDC lead analyst for FluSight forecasting. Outbreak data is aggregated from verified sources including BEACON, ProMED, WHO, CDC, and 50+ national health agencies. This information is for educational purposes and should not replace professional medical advice.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-07
No confirmed cases reported in Maine yet. Here are the latest Poliomyelitis, paralytic reports from our global surveillance network.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has issued a distressing report indicating the identification of four new cases of poliomyelitis in the provinces of Herat, Helmand, and Nangarhar. With these recent developments, the total number of reported infections for the current cale…
Australia was declared free from polio in 2000. The last case of poliomyelitis caused by locally acquired wild poliovirus in Australia was in 1972. In April 2026, circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was detected in wastewater in Perth, Western Australia, though…
India has a long history of eradicating and eliminating serious disease burdens through well-planned and well-executed campaigns. From the eradication of smallpox in the 1950s to the more recent Pulse Polio drives, these campaigns were designed for success. That same discipline a…
The World Health Organization's regional office for the Eastern Mediterranean has emphasized the need for enhanced coordination to combat the polio virus during a meeting with the Deputy Administrative Head of the Prime Minister's Office. This comes in light of six reported human…
Federal health officials have issued urgent travel warnings for more than 30 countries over the increased circulation of polio. The CDC has issued level 2 travel advisories for 32 countries, including the UK and Spain, urging Americans traveling to those nations to 'practice enh…
I've always been very open about being a big fan of vaccines. Not because of politics or blind faith, but because the evidence - accumulated over decades - overwhelmingly shows their benefits. Vaccines are among the most effective medical interventions ever devised for reducing …
LONDON, Nov 15 -- Germany has found the wild polio virus in a sewage sample in Hamburg, the first such detection in Europe since 2010. What is polio? Polio, short for poliomyelitis, is an infectious disease that terrified parents worldwide for much of the first half of the 20th c…
On 24th October every year, World Polio Day is observed all over the globe, in memory of Dr. Jonas Salk, the scientist who was instrumental in developing the first successful vaccine for polio. This day serves as a reminder that continued caution and vigilance is still crucial in…
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