- WHO ‘extremely concerned’ by polio outbreak in Gaza
- Scientists have detected several positive tests of the disease in wastewater.
- But there are no confirmed human cases yet.
A senior WHO official said he was “extremely concerned” that polio and other viral diseases were ravaging the Gaza Strip nine months after the start of the war, after traces were found in sewage.
The Israel Defense Forces’ invasion of the Gaza Strip, launched in retaliation for Hamas terror attacks against Israel on October 7, has left much of the enclave devastated.
Israel has been accused of “systematically using water as a weapon” in the Strip, with international charity Oxfam saying this week that the IDF has damaged or destroyed five pieces of water and sanitation infrastructure every three days since the war began.
Now Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, leader of the World Health Organization’s team for health emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territory, says he is worried about spreading viruses.
His team has already found positive samples of polio in six of seven tests carried out on wastewater, although there have not yet been any confirmed cases of the disease.
A senior WHO official says he is ‘extremely concerned’ that polio and other viral diseases are ravaging the Gaza Strip
Israel has been accused of “systematically using water as a weapon” in the Strip
Rolando Gomez, spokesman for the United Nations in Geneva, said that Israel, “as the occupying power,” has a responsibility “to ensure that assistance reaches those in need in Gaza.”
“I am extremely concerned about the possibility of an outbreak in Gaza. And it’s not just polio, but the various outbreaks of communicable diseases that can occur,” he said via video at a United Nations briefing in Geneva, referring to a hepatitis outbreak there in 2023.
Dr Saparbekov said a lack of water, sanitation and access to healthcare could lead to more people dying from communicable diseases than from injury-related conditions.
Rolando Gomez, spokesman for the United Nations in Geneva, said that Israel “as the occupying power” has a responsibility “to ensure that assistance reaches those in need in Gaza” and to “create an enabling environment for the UN and our partners to operate.”
Israel itself also appears to be concerned about the problem: the country’s Health Ministry and military announced on Sunday that they were offering booster doses of the polio vaccine to all soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
Polio is transmitted primarily through the feces of an infected person.
Polio is transmitted primarily through the feces of an infected person.
Israel itself also appears to be concerned about the problem, with the country’s Health Ministry and military announcing on Sunday that they were offering polio vaccine boosters to all soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
Although some people infected with polio experience mild flu-like symptoms, the disease can also cause muscle paralysis, according to the NHS.
In severe cases, the muscles needed for breathing contract, which can be fatal.
The NHS recommends that the polio vaccine be given to children at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age, at three years and four months of age, and at 14 years of age.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that adults at higher risk of exposure receive a single booster dose to maintain immunity.
But the war in Gaza has greatly disrupted the rollout of the vaccine, the WHO has previously said.
Heat, the inability to collect garbage or dispose of waste water, and the immediate lack of clean water are factors that have significantly increased the risk of disease.
The WHO has said up to 14,000 people have been medically evacuated from Gaza.