Polioviruses

The enteroviruses that cause poliomyelitis, shed in the stool of infected people and spread through contaminated water and food by the fecal-oral route. They are hardy in the environment, surviving in water and on produce long enough to infect new hosts, which makes them relevant to food and water safety testing: their presence signals fecal contamination of the supply. Detection methods developed for poliovirus, from cell culture to molecular assays, also underpin surveillance for other enteric viruses such as norovirus and hepatitis A in shellfish and fresh produce. Continued monitoring supports the global effort to confirm and maintain polio eradication.