what causes polio

Polio is caused by a specific virus called poliovirus , which infects the gut and can sometimes attack the nerves that control muscles, leading to paralysis.

What actually causes polio?

• Polio (poliomyelitis) is an infectious disease caused only by poliovirus, a type of enterovirus that mainly lives in the throat and intestines.

• There are three main “wild” poliovirus types, and today most new cases come from either wild virus still circulating in a few countries or rare vaccine‑derived strains where a weakened virus from oral vaccines has changed and regained strength in under‑immunized communities.

How the virus spreads

• Poliovirus spreads mostly via the fecal–oral route : tiny amounts of stool from an infected person contaminate water, food, or hands, and then enter someone else’s mouth. Poor sanitation and unsafe water strongly increase the risk.

• It can also spread from oral–oral contact (like saliva) and is highly contagious, especially where vaccination rates are low and many people live close together.

What increases your risk?

• Being unvaccinated or under‑vaccinated is the single biggest risk factor, because it leaves the immune system unprepared to fight the virus.

• Other factors that can make severe polio more likely include very young age, older age, malnutrition, pregnancy, and weakened immunity, especially in places with poor water, sanitation, and hygiene systems.

What happens inside the body?

• The virus first multiplies in the throat and intestines, often without any symptoms, and many infected people never know they had it.

• In a small percentage of infections, poliovirus enters the bloodstream, reaches the spinal cord or brainstem, and attacks nerve cells that control movement, causing muscle weakness, paralysis, or breathing problems.

“Latest news” and why it still matters

• Wild poliovirus has been eliminated from most countries, but international health agencies still classify its spread as a global public health emergency because outbreaks can occur wherever vaccination coverage drops.

• Today, most new paralytic polio cases worldwide are linked to vaccine‑derived poliovirus in areas with very low immunization, which is why campaigns continue to push for high vaccination rates until eradication is complete.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.