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War-torn Gaza now faces major polio outbreak, top WHO official warns, with deadly virus traces found in sewage as Israel issues orders to vaccinate soldiers
A top WHO official says he is 'extremely worried' polio and other viral diseases will ravage the Gaza Strip nine months into the war, after traces were found in sewage.
The IDF's invasion of the Gaza Strip, launched in retaliation for Hamas' terror attacks on Israel on October 7, has left much of the enclave devastated.
Israel has been accused of 'systematically weaponising water' in the Strip, with global charity Oxfam claiming this week the IDF has damaged or destroyed five pieces of water and sanitation infrastructure every three days since the war began.
Now Dr Ayadil Saparbekov, World Health Organisation team lead for health emergencies in the occupied Palestinian territory, says he is worried this will spread viruses.
His team have already found positive samples of polio in six out of seven tests on sewage, though there have not yet been any confirmed cases of the disease.
A top WHO official says he is 'extremely worried' that polio, and other viral diseases, will ravage the Gaza Strip
Israel has been accused of 'systematically weaponising water' in the Strip
Rolando Gomez, a United Nations spokesperson in Geneva, said Israel 'as the occupying power' has a responsibility 'to ensure assistance reaches those in need in Gaza'
'I am extremely worried about an outbreak happening in Gaza. And this is not only polio - the different outbreaks of the communicable diseases that may happen,' he told a United Nations briefing in Geneva by video, alluding to a hepatitis outbreak there in 2023.
Dr Saparbekov said lack of water, sanitation, and access to health care could lead to more people dying of communicable diseases than from injury related conditions.
Rolando Gomez, a United Nations spokesperson in Geneva, said Israel 'as the occupying power' has a responsibility 'to ensure assistance reaches those in need in Gaza' and to 'create an enabling environment for the U.N. and our partners to operate.'
Israel itself appears to be worried about the problem as well, with the country's military and health ministry announcing on Sunday that they were offering polio vaccination boosters to all soldiers in the Gaza Strip.
Polio is primarily spread through the faeces of an infected person.
Polio is primarily spread through the faeces of an infected person
Israel itself appears to be worried about the problem as well, with the country's military and health ministry announcing on Sunday that they were offering polio vaccination boosters to all soldiers in the Gaza Strip
While some people infected with polio with suffer from mild, flu-like symptoms, according to the NHS, the disease can also lead to muscle paralysis.
In severe cases, the muscles needed to breathe seize up - which can be life-threatening.
The NHS recommends the polio vaccine be given to children at the ages of eight, 12 and 16 weeks, three years and four months old, and at 14 years.
The US' Centre for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends adults who are at a higher risk of exposure get a one-time booster to maintain immunity.
But the war in Gaza has massively disrupted vaccine dissemination, the WHO previously said.
Heat, the inability to clear rubbish or flush wastewater away and the immediate lack of clean water are factors which have significantly increased the risk of disease.
The WHO has said up to 14,000 people have medical evacuation from Gaza.