Polio detected in Gaza sewage water, threatening new health disaster

The highly infectious polio virus has been found in sewage samples in Gaza, putting thousands of Palestinians at risk of contracting a disease that can cause paralysis, Report informs via CNN.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) both said they had carried out tests and found samples of the virus in sewage water.

“Poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) had been identified at six locations in sewage samples collected on 23 June from Khan Younis and Deir al Balah,” WHO said Friday.

“It is important to note the virus has been isolated from the environment only at this time; no associated paralytic cases have been detected,” WHO added. It said no one has yet been treated in Gaza for paralysis or other symptoms of polio, but that residents must now “contend with the threat” posed by the disease.

Various United Nations agencies – including UNICEF, the children’s fund, and UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees – are working with local health authorities to determine how far the virus has spread.