The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is working on a campaign against polio in Gaza after the virus was detected there, but the continuing war presents multiple hurdles to the effort.
While no clinical cases have been diagnosed so far, polio was detected in sewage in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis areas, WHO polio specialist Hamid Jafari said in a news conference on Wednesday.
“We need a ceasefire, even a temporary ceasefire to successfully undertake these campaigns. Otherwise, we risk the virus spreading further, including across borders,” said Hanan Balkhy, regional WHO director.
On July 30, the Health Ministry in Gaza declared the Palestinian territory to be a “polio epidemic zone”, blaming the reappearance of the virus on Israel’s 10-month military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.
The ministry said the CPV2 strain of the virus was detected in wastewater samples taken in the Khan Younis region in the south of the Strip, as well as in areas of central Gaza.
Children under five are most at risk from the viral disease, especially infants under two, since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by the conflict.
Also on Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said they will send more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza, AFP news agency reported.
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