The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed serious concerns about a potential outbreak of polio in Gaza after traces of the virus were detected in wastewater. Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, the head of the WHO team in the Palestinian territories, reported that a risk assessment is underway. In the meantime, health workers are providing advice to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents on how to protect themselves.
However, Dr. Saparbekov noted that the ongoing breakdown of water and sanitation services in Gaza makes it very difficult for people to follow these guidelines. The traces of polio, which spreads through fecal matter, were found in sewage samples from two sites in Gaza a month ago, suggesting that the virus may be circulating in the area.
So far, no cases of paralytic polio have been reported. In response, the Israeli military has begun vaccinating its soldiers and is working with various organizations to distribute vaccines to Palestinians in Gaza. Since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in October, around 300,000 vaccines have been sent to the territory.
Both the WHO and the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, believe that a mass vaccination campaign may be necessary in Gaza. However, repeated delays in the delivery of aid and humanitarian supplies, along with significant security risks, make such a campaign very challenging.
Polio is a highly contagious virus that can cause paralysis and, in severe cases, death. It spreads easily through contact with the feces of an infected person, and less commonly through droplets from coughing or sneezing. Before the conflict, immunization rates in Gaza and the West Bank were high, with 99% coverage in 2022. However, this figure had dropped to 89% by the following year.
The UN agency reports that Gaza’s health system has been severely impacted by the ongoing conflict. With only 16 out of 36 hospitals partially operational, and with significant issues such as poor water quality, inadequate sanitation, and shortages of medical supplies, the risk of disease spread has increased.
Dr. Saparbekov highlighted that many people are living in overcrowded shelters with inadequate sanitation and limited access to safe drinking water. In response to the polio detection, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has warned of a “health catastrophe,” citing concerns about wastewater contamination in displacement camps and residential areas.
The WHO has emphasized that a ceasefire is crucial for an effective response to the potential outbreak. This appeal was echoed by eight Israeli public health professors in an op-ed published in Haaretz. They stressed that addressing the health crisis is a matter of life and health, not politics, and called for immediate action to protect both Palestinian and Israeli infants who are at risk due to incomplete vaccinations.
