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Geneva/Tel Aviv – According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the polio virus responsible for polio has been discovered in the Gaza Strip. The virus was found in six areas at the end of June, said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier.

“It is important to stress that the virus has only been isolated from the environment.” At this point in time, no associated infections are known. No associated cases of paralysis have been registered either.

The WHO is working with local authorities to conduct a risk assessment. One possible response would be an immediate vaccination campaign, it said.

Given the destruction of many health facilities, the already precarious situation of the population and the difficult hygienic conditions, the general risk of diseases that could actually be prevented by vaccinations is increased.

The virus was isolated from sewers, reported Israeli media such as the news portal Ynet and the newspaper Times of Israel citing the Israeli Ministry of Health.

Parts of the sewer system in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by the war and open sewage ponds are forming in some places. The Israeli Ministry of Health has ordered that all soldiers deployed in the Gaza Strip be vaccinated. Soldiers who have already been vaccinated should also receive a booster dose.

The Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip warned that the viruses found in sewers near refugee tents could trigger a “health catastrophe.” Thousands of people are at risk of becoming infected.

The poliovirus is highly contagious. In recent years, polioviruses have been discovered in wastewater in the USA, Israel and England, among other places.

The virus in question was not the wild type of poliovirus, but viruses that originate from oral vaccinations with weakened but living polio pathogens. They can be excreted by vaccinated people. In Germany, only so-called inactivated vaccines, which do not contain any viable viruses, have been used for years. © dpa/aerzteblatt.de