The polio virus (pv) is possibly the most innocuous virus that affects humans. The improvement of sanitation standards across the world has meant fewer people are afflicted by polio as infants, upsetting the historical balance between virus and host. But, since poorer sections still live in squalor and consume water and food contaminated by faeces, the virus remains a threat to the global community.

pv was first discovered in 1905. It contains rna (ribo-nucleic acid) as its main genetic component and belongs to enteroviruses, a group that invades the digestive tract and gut and manifests in other forms. pv, the prototype enterovirus, can be further classified into three serotypes called wild types 1, 2 and 3. The virus as an entity is rather innocuous and can be used to impart immunity to children.

The term poliomyelitis is derived from the Greek words