Health ministers in Gaza are fearing a “real health disaster” after traces of polio were found in sewage samples.
The serious and potentially deadly infection was once a devastating killer but has widely been wiped out globally thanks to improved hygiene and access to a vaccine.
However, infected water, broken sewage lines, and overcrowding due to displacement of Palestinians has seemingly led to the reemergence of polio in Gaza.
The enclave reported the discovery on Friday, which has alerted health officials to the possibility of the infection spreading.
A statement from the Ministry of Health in Gaza read: "The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announces that tests were conducted on sewage samples in coordination with Unicef, and the results showed the presence of the virus that causes poliomyelitis.
“Detecting the virus that causes polio in sewage portends a real health disaster and exposes thousands of residents to the risk of contracting poliomyelitis.
“The Ministry of Health calls for an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression, providing usable water, repairing sewage lines, and ending population crowding in places of displacement."
Polio can affect the brain and nerve to cause paralysis and death in rare cases.
Symptoms are often more mild and flu-like.
The call for peace comes as the conflict between Israel and Hamas enters its tenth month, after erupting in October 2023.
More than 38,600 people in Gaza have been killed.
On Friday, a suspected Houthi drone attack killed one person in Tel Aviv. The attack followed on from Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant sending more than 200 rockets into Israel.
US President Joe Biden has said that representatives from both Hamas and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire framework.
