The World Health Organization reported Brazilian health officials discovered strains of the polio virus in sewage routinely tested on June 18 at Viracopos International Airport, in Campinas municipality in the State of São Paulo. Genetic sequencing indicated a close match with a strain of wild polio virus isolated in Equatorial Guinea. Health officials say the virus was detected only in sewage, with no reports of paralytic polio detected, though their investigation is ongoing.
“Based on current evidence, the country is not considered polio-affected,” WHO stated, referring to this exposure as “a poliovirus importation.” Brazil has been free of indigenous WPV transmission since 1989, and the Americas Region since 1991. Vaccination coverage against polio in São Paulo State a...
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