Poliovirus type 2 found in wastewater in Gaza Strip

A poliovirus variant has been discovered in six wastewater samples in Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah, two cities in southern and central Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry called it a “health disaster” in a Facebook post on Friday. The tests, conducted in collaboration with UNICEF, detected the presence of poliovirus type 2, which causes the disease polio.

Gaza officials said the presence of the virus was caused by severe congestion of people in small areas and the scarcity of available water in the Strip. The samples were taken from sewage flowing between densely populated areas and the tents of displaced people.

Polio is a highly contagious disease that can infect the central nervous system and damage nerve cells that activate muscles. But in some cases it causes no symptoms and goes unnoticed. No one in Gaza has yet been treated for polio-related symptoms, the WHO told The Associated Press.

Similarities with the Egyptian variant

The wild poliovirus type 2 was declared eradicated in 2015, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) — although the variant found in Gaza is from a vaccine, and appears in areas with low vaccination rates, where the weakened, live virus used in the oral polio vaccine can spread between children.

Polio vaccination rates in the occupied Palestinian territories were estimated at 99 percent in 2022, according to the WHO, falling to 89 percent in 2023, although the data were not broken down specifically for Gaza. Poor sanitation during the ongoing war and declining vaccination rates could have contributed to the resurgence of the virus.

The variant found in Gaza is related to a variant that circulating in Egypt in the second half of 2023, according to the WHO; it was last detected in that country in December 2023. Research shows it could have been introduced in Gaza as early as September 2023.

IDF begins vaccination campaign

Israel’s Health Ministry also found traces of poliovirus in Gaza’s wastewater through its own tests. It announced a vaccination campaign for Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops in the Strip. IDF soldiers will be vaccinated during routine troop rotations, the army told Reuters. Vaccination would be voluntary, it said.

The Israeli military also noted that with the help of international organizations, more than half of Gaza’s two million residents have been provided with vaccines.

WATCH | A mother washes her child with sand as hygiene products are scarce in Gaza:

With few options for hygiene products, displaced Gazans are resorting to bathing with sand

Basic necessities such as soap and shampoo are hard to come by for some Gazans. Even products made in Gaza are not necessarily available, says the owner of a cleaning supplies store. With no other option, some parents have resorted to using sand to clean their children, which brings problems in itself.

The war between Israel and Hamas has destroyed much of Gaza’s health infrastructure, now in its 10th month. Israel claims that Hamas uses hospitals to hide weapons and militants, and uses patients as human shields. Hamas has criticized Israel’s use of the term “human shield” and referred to the thousands of Palestinian civilians caught in the middle of the fighting with nowhere else to go.

According to the WHO, only 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially operational and 45 of 105 primary health care facilities are operational.

The war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, which killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostage, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s subsequent ground invasion of the territory has killed 39,000 people, according to a Gaza Health Ministry tally updated Monday.

Poor sanitation can contribute to the spread of diseases

Sanitation in the camps for internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip is reportedly extremely poor. International organizations have described overcrowded spaces, overcrowded tents and no access to clean water, bathrooms or hygiene products. One camp was located on a giant landfill in the middle of Khan Younis.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health has called for an end to aggression in the Strip so that sewage systems can be repaired and displaced people in overcrowded camps can return home.

In a post on X on July 19, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said stressed out the importance of a ceasefire to allow for “an effective response” to the detection of the virus.

“Before the conflict, polio vaccination rates were optimal in Gaza,” he said, noting that groups including UNICEF and WHO are conducting “risk assessments” on the ground and determining next steps to stop further spread, “including rapid vaccination campaigns.”