The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has detected two poliovirus strains in samples collected from a wastewater treatment facility in Cape Town.
The discovery was made during routine environmental surveillance and wastewater testing conducted to identify potential disease outbreaks at an early stage.
According to the Department of Health, the detected viruses are believed to be linked to individuals vaccinated outside South Africa with different oral polio vaccine strains.
Health authorities stressed that the findings do not indicate a polio outbreak in the country.
Officials described the detections as “vaccine events” rather than confirmed human infections, adding that South Africa remains officially polio-free.
As a precautionary measure, surveillance and environmental sampling efforts have been intensified to monitor for any potential public health risk.