According to health ministries in both the Hamas-controlled territory and Israel, samples of sewage from Gaza tested positive for Poliovirus. The ministry in Gaza has alerted that the overcrowded displacement camps inhabited by thousands of people are now threatened by a highly contagious ailment which can cause distortion and paralysis.
In spite of four decades aimed at eradication that were marshaled by United Nations agencies against polio, which is usually spread through sewage and polluted water, there have been pockets of resurgence in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as rare cases involving Nigeria.
“Tests conducted after recent Israeli military aggression showed the presence of poliovirus” stated the Gaza ministry following its collaboration with UNICEF. The laboratory tests carried out by Israeli Health Ministry confirmed that poliovirus type 2 was present in Gaza sewage sample whilst WHO produced similar findings. Conditions such as “severe overcrowding” and “rare water” getting polluted with sewage added to this assertion made by Gaza ministry while rubbish continues to accumulate in these areas.
They claim that the denial of hygienic materials into Gaza is what has enabled “an environment suitable for diverse diseases.”
Deliverance of safe water and reopening of waste treatment plants will only begin if Israel ends its military attack on Palestine, said the ministry. Officials in Deir el-Balah town located at the center released information indicating shutdowns at wastewater treatment stations due to fuel shortages and that roads would soon be submerged with wastewater thus endangering about 700,000 people mostly IDPs living around it.
Israeli health ministry admitted that these “samples raise concerns over virus presence within this locality”, adding Israeli health authorities are “monitoring and assessing any measures required to prevent disease threats within Israel.”
