The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a travel advisory for 32 countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe due to a surge in polio cases.
The advisory, released ahead of the spring travel season, places the countries under a Level 2 alert, requiring travelers to practice enhanced precautions, including ensuring their polio vaccinations are up to date.
The list of countries includes popular holiday destinations like Spain, the United Kingdom, and Germany, as well as several African and Middle Eastern nations.
Travelers are advised to receive a single lifetime booster dose before visiting areas where the virus is circulating, and to take preventive steps such as vaccination, good hygiene practices, and safe food and water consumption.
The advisory does not mean travelers should cancel trips, but rather take necessary precautions to avoid the transmission of the polio virus.
The list of countries at risk may change as surveillance updates become available, so passengers should stay up to speed on official advisories both before and during their journey.
The countries under the Level 2 travel advisory include:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Angola
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- Gaza
- Germany
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Israel
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Poland
- Senegal
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Tanzania
- United Kingdom
- Yemen
- Zimbabwe
