In May 2014, the WHO Director-General declared the international spread of poliovirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), a designation that allows for accelerated response, emergency disbursement of funding and mitigation measures, such as vaccination of international travellers, to reduce the risk of spread of poliovirus. Nine years and several expert-led reviews later, polio retains its PHEIC status. COVID-19 and mpox have joined and recently left the list of diseases with this designation, but poliovirus still poses a risk of international spread. As noted with detections of variant poliovirus around the world in several previously polio-free countries, including Canada, Israel, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America, poliovirus anywhere is a threat to children everywhere.