Image Credit: AFP
Gaza Strip: Humanitarian groups are considering a mass vaccination campaign for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after traces of variant poliovirus type 2 were found in water sources in the war-torn territory.
The disease was detected in six locations in Gaza, the World Health Organization said Friday, adding that no cases of paralysis had been identified so far.
Geneva-based WHO said it was working with partners – including UNICEF and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – to conduct a risk assessment.
Polio vaccination rates in Gaza before the war were “optimal,” according to the organization.
Israel on Sunday confirmed the resurgence of the virus, which can be spread by contaminated water and direct person-to-person contact, and said it would offer booster shots to its soldiers operating in and around the Gaza Strip.
The Israel-Hamas war has caused widespread destruction in Gaza and killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.
The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants invaded southern Israel and killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians. Aid groups have been warning Israel of the potential for disease outbreaks in Gaza as a result of the war.
“The decimation of the health system, lack of security, access obstruction, constant population displacement, shortages of medical supplies, poor quality of water and weakened sanitation are increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu, WHO director-general, said in a statement on X.
“This poses a risk for children and creates the perfect environment for diseases like polio to spread,” he added.
Poliovirus can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis in a matter of hours. The disease mainly affects children younger than five, though anyone who is unvaccinated can contract it.
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