The World Health Organization and British health officials said Wednesday that a vaccine-derived form of the disease had been found in London sewage samples.
There have been no human cases of the paralyzing disease in Britain.
The WHO said in a statement that a vaccine-derived form of the disease had been found in London.
No associated cases of paralysis have been detected despite the fact that the virus has been isolated from environmental samples.
It warned that any form of the disease is a threat to children.
In recent decades, a massive global effort has come close to ridding the world of a potentially fatal disease that affects children under five years old.
Since 1988, when there were 350,000 cases worldwide, the number of cases has decreased by 99 percent.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only places in the world where the wild version of the virus is still present.
The oral vaccine can be passed on through fecal-contaminated water, meaning that it won't hurt the child who has been vaccined, but could potentially spread the disease to their neighbors.
This variant of the disease can cause serious illness and even death in people who aren't protected against it.
There were 959 confirmed cases of VDPV2 in the year 2020.
The discovery of sewage samples in London suggests that there may be a spread of the disease among people who aren't up to date with immunizations.
She said that the most effective way to prevent further spread is to check the vaccine histories of children.
According to the WHO, London's vaccine coverage is nearly 90 percent.
The UN's health agency has called for the elimination of OPV and the replacement with an in-activated vaccine.
British health authorities said it was likely that the virus found in the sewage samples had been imported by someone who had recently received a vaccine outside of the country.
Parents often ask why vaccines are given against diseases that have been eliminated in the UK, according to David Elliman, a consultant pediatrician at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
He said that diseases could be brought in from abroad because we are not isolated from the rest of the world.
The point was proved by the finding of vaccine-derived polioviruses in sewage.
Multiple sewage samples from the London Beckton Sewage Treatment Works have been found to contain the virus.
Four million people live in north and east London, which is covered by the plant.
The health authorities warned that the isolates were "genetically related" and that they tended to be unrelated.
The need to investigate the extent of transmission has been prompted by this.
Agence France- Presse.
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