Vax Before Travel The international spread of poliovirus remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in 2026. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated that the international spread of poliovirus remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) following the forty-fourth meeting of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005.
This meeting took place on January 14, 2026, and reviewed the latest data on wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV), assessing progress since the previous update on November 11, 2025.
In a statement released on March 4, 2026, the WHO Committee unanimously concluded that the risk of international spread of poliovirus continues to warrant the PHEIC designation.