The presence of polio virus has been detected in London sewage for the second time this year as UK government funding for global polio eradication was recently reduced. Public health experts warned the decision would undermine international and domestic disease protection systems.
Polio is a highly contagious virus that mainly affects children under five years of age and can cause paralysis or even death if it attacks the muscles used for breathing.
UK authorities carry out regular sewage testing to track the virus as they usually find only a few cases of the virus each year. Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, called the latest finding “very worrying”, especially in areas with low vaccination rates.
He requested that parents verify that their children have received all required vaccination shots. The doctor announced that the current circumstances show that the virus is active throughout the city.
The London strain acts as a vaccine-derived poliovirus that spreads in places where people do not have vaccination protection. Vaccination efforts by global campaigns have succeeded in nearly eliminating polio, yet the disease is still prevalent in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) received funding cuts from the UK government, which campaigners condemned as it represented a wider pattern of aid cuts that the government had made to support military funding.
The decision, taken by Adrian Lovett, executive director of the One Campaign, an anti-poverty organization, reflects both short-sighted and self-defeating consequences as it reduces vaccination protections around the world, resulting in increased domestic health threats. The sample collection that occurred on March 2 represents the 10th such occurrence identified since 2024.
The research work of Dr. Kathleen O’Reilly, who works as an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, remains unknown because researchers have not determined whether the London virus originated through international travel or through initial local transmission.
He explained that a positive sewage test result does not indicate a real case of paralytic polio, but that hospitals and GP practices need to be prepared for potential emergency situations.
The UK saw a slight decline in vaccination rates for polio vaccines, with the vaccination rate for one-year-old children falling from 95% between 2012 and 2015 to 92% in 2022–23.
Health officials stressed the importance of taking missed doses to maintain protection. Dr. Vanessa Saliba of the UK Health Protection Agency explained that ongoing sewage surveillance activities serve as essential elements of national and international polio control efforts. According to his assessment the general public faces very little risk, but he advised parents to ensure that their children receive all necessary vaccinations.
