World Health Organization 'extremely concerned' about polio risk in Gaza

By Nathan Morley

With traces found in wastewater, it is believed that the virus may be circulating. The World Health organization and UNICEF now think a mass vaccination campaign may be required in Gaza.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, the sewage samples were found to contain poliovirus type 2 when examined in Israeli laboratories. The WHO had made similar conclusions. However, no cases of illness have been reported so far.

Polio can be a life-threatening disease, it mainly affects infants and children under 5, but anyone who is unvaccinated can catch it.

There is no cure for polio, but extensive vaccination can be an effective prevention strategy.

It is very contagious and spreads from person to person — usually, when someone is in contact with the feces of an infected person and then touches their mouth – it is ingested through contaminated water or food.

The virus attacks the spinal cord and can cause irreversible paralysis in children.

Due to major problems with the fresh water supply, sewage disposal and the severely weakened health system, the risk of spread is very high. In emergency shelters, hundreds of people share one toilet, with each person having less than two liters of water per day at their disposal.

Israeli army has already begun a large-scale vaccination campaign for its soldiers deployed in the Palestinian territory. The vaccination campaign applies to all ground troops, both regular and reserve troops. In addition, the Palestinian population will be supplied with vaccines.

So far, 300,000 vaccines have been delivered.

Elsewhere, according to China's Foreign Ministry, Fatah and Hamas have ended their dispute. They have reached an agreement with 12 Palestinian groups on forming an interim government in the Gaza Strip.

During talks in China, 14 Palestinian groups, including the Islamist Hamas, agreed on a national interim government for the post-war period in the Gaza Strip, according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

China has shown solidarity with the Palestinian cause in the past and supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This envisages an independent Palestinian state coexisting with Israel.