New health crisis unfolds in Gaza as poliovirus found in sewage

FILE: View of Gaza Strip from Israel – October 2009. (Photo: David Berkowitz/Flickr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)

By Anadolu, Philippine News Agency

GAZA CITY, Palestine – A new health crisis unfolded in the bombarded Gaza Strip with the detection of poliovirus in sewage, the Gaza Health Ministry revealed on Thursday.

A ministry statement noted that “tests on sewage samples, conducted in coordination with UNICEF, confirmed the presence of the poliovirus.”

The statement added that the presence of the virus in sewage, which flows through areas with displaced persons and residential zones due to infrastructure destruction, “represents a new health crisis.”

The situation is exacerbated by severe overcrowding, scarce and contaminated water supplies, accumulated garbage, and the Israeli blockade on hygiene supplies.

The ministry warned that the detection of the virus in sewage puts thousands of residents at risk of contracting polio.

Separately, the Israeli Health Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it found components of the type 2 poliovirus in sewage samples from Gaza.

The ministry said in a statement published by Channel 12 that the sample results matched those of the World Health Organization.

The samples tested in a WHO-accredited laboratory in Israel raise concerns about the virus’s presence in the area, the statement added.

Polio is a highly contagious viral disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause total paralysis within hours.

According to the WHO, the escalation of hostilities by Israel in Gaza has led to a continuous rise in deaths and injuries, severe overcrowding in shelters, and the disruption of health, water, and sewage systems, which could accelerate the spread of infectious diseases.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

More than 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 89,400 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.