{"id":179930,"date":"2026-03-05T22:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179930\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T22:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:53:08","slug":"cdc-issues-new-warning-over-fatal-diseases-spread-what-to-know-in-fl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179930\/","title":{"rendered":"CDC Issues New Warning Over Fatal Disease&#8217;s Spread: What To Know In FL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Federal health officials are warning tourists from Florida and others across the country that global travel carries an increased risk for polio, which is circulating in about 30 countries.<\/p>\n<p>Polio vaccines are universally required for public and private school students, including in Florida; however, policies allow for medical exemptions and, in many states, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/state-health-policy-data\/state-indicator\/state-vaccine-requirements-for-children\/?currentTimeframe=0&amp;sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">religious or personal belief exemptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In Florida, while the polio vaccine is required, it can be waived for religious exemptions.<\/p>\n<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s advisory is a <a href=\"https:\/\/wwwnc.cdc.gov\/travel\/notices\/level2\/global-polio\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Level 2 warning<\/a> that encourages travelers to \u201cpractice enhanced precautions,\u201d especially in the following destinations:<\/p>\n<p> AfghanistanAlgeriaAngolaBeninBurkina FasoCameroonCentral African RepublicChadC\u00f4te d\u2019IvoireDemocratic Republic of the CongoDjiboutiEthiopiaFinlandGazaGermanyGhanaGuineaIsraelNigerNigeriaPakistanPapua New GuineaPolandSenegalSomaliaSouth SudanSpainSudanTanzaniaUnited KingdomYemenZimbabwe <\/p>\n<p>Polio, a highly contagious, crippling and potentially deadly disease primarily affecting children under 5, can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/health-topics\/poliomyelitis#tab=tab_1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">World Health Organization<\/a>, it is usually spread through fecal matter, contaminated water or food, or failure to wash hands after using the bathroom. <\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/polio\/hcp\/clinical-overview\/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CDC <\/a>says 95 percent of people infected with polio show no symptoms, and that when symptoms do occur, they often mimic the flu, including fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, and neck stiffness. Symptoms last two to 10 days, and most people fully recover. <\/p>\n<p>Fewer than 1 percent of cases are severe illnesses that can cause paralysis, often in the legs, or be fatal if it infects the brain or paralyzes the breathing muscles.<\/p>\n<p>There is no known cure for polio, but vaccinations can prevent it. The CDC is advising people who travel to any of the named countries to make sure they\u2019re up-to-date on polio vaccines. <\/p>\n<p>Most adults born in the United States can assume they are vaccinated, according to the CDC. Adult travelers may get a booster if they are going to a destination with circulating poliovirus, have completed their routine polio vaccine series, and have not already received one adult booster dose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Federal health officials are warning tourists from Florida and others across the country that global travel carries an&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-179930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}