How long after exposure to poliovirus can symptoms begin?

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Polio vaccine — polio A health care worker giving a polio vaccine to a child in Katsina state, Nigeria, 2014.

After exposure to the poliovirus, symptoms typically begin to appear in new victims about 7 to 14 days after the virus has been ingested.1

The virus is primarily transmitted through the fecal-oral route or via droplets from the throat of an infected person. Once inside the body, it multiplies in the lymph nodes of the intestinal tract before spreading through the bloodstream. While many infections result in only a mild, flulike illness, the virus can progress to attack the central nervous system, potentially leading to paralysis.1