The World Health Organization (WHO) issued Tuseday July 23rd a stark warning about the potential spread of polio across the entire Gaza Strip and beyond, due to Israel’s devastation of the sanitation and infrastructure accross the Strip.
WHO’s team lead for health emergencies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Ayadil Saparbekov, stated that “circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2” was detected in environmental sewage samples, adding that that it may also spill over internationally, at a very high point.
In response, Israel has begun offering polio vaccinations to its forces working in Gaza after traces of the virus were found in the strip.
WHO and UNICEF workers are expected to arrive in Gaza on Thursday to collect stool samples for the upcoming risk assessment, hoping the assessment will be completed by the end of the week.
If so, they will recommend a mass vaccination campaign, including the type of vaccine and the target age group, to combat the spread of polio accross the strip.
During Israel’s devastating 10-month war on Gaza, about two-million Palestinains in Gaza have been internally displaced, among them about 1,737,524 are suffering from infectious diseases due to displacement. 71338 are suffering from hepatitis A.
UN agencies warned of spreading kidney diseases among displaced people due to poor hygiene, displacement, and destruction of sewage infrastructure.
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