Israel WHO: Polio virus discovered in the Gaza Strip

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the polio virus responsible for polio has been discovered in the Gaza Strip. The virus was found in six areas at the end of June, said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.

"It is important to emphasize that the virus has only been isolated from the environment." No associated infections are known at this time. Nor have any associated cases of paralysis been recorded.

The WHO is working with local authorities to carry out a risk assessment. One possible response would be an immediate vaccination campaign, it said. In view of the destruction of many health facilities, the already precarious situation of the population and the difficult hygienic conditions, the risk of diseases that could actually be prevented by vaccinations is generally increased.

Ministry of Health has soldiers vaccinated

The virus has been isolated from sewers, reported Israeli media such as the news portal Ynet and the newspaper "Times of Israel", citing the Israeli Ministry of Health. Parts of the sewage system in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by the war and open sewage pools have formed in some places. The Israeli Ministry of Health has ordered all soldiers deployed in the Gaza Strip to be vaccinated. Soldiers who have already been vaccinated should also receive a booster dose.

The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip warned that the viruses found in sewers near refugee tents could trigger a "health catastrophe". Thousands of people are at risk of infection.

Great humanitarian need in the Gaza Strip

The polio virus is highly contagious and can cause polio. In recent years, polio viruses have been discovered in wastewater in the USA, Israel and England, among other places. In these cases, it was not the wild type of polio virus, but viruses resulting from the oral vaccination with attenuated but live polio pathogens. They can be excreted by vaccinated persons. In Germany, only so-called inactivated vaccines, which do not contain viable viruses, have been in use for years.

Due to Israel's war against the Islamist Hamas, there has been great humanitarian need in the Gaza Strip for months. Israel is trying to defeat Hamas after terrorists from the Palestinian organization and other groups carried out a massacre in Israel on 7 October. They killed around 1,200 Israelis and abducted around 250 other people in the Gaza Strip. In the ensuing Gaza war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced and tens of thousands killed.