The Gaza Strip's first recorded polio case in 25 years has health workers and aid agencies grappling with the steep obstacles to conducting mass vaccination in the war-torn Palestinian territory. Unrelenting air strikes by Israel more than 10 months into its war against Gaza rulers Hamas, restrictions of aid entering the besieged territory and hot summer temperatures all threaten the viability of a life-saving inoculation drive. Still, equipment to support the extensive campaign -- which U.
N. agencies say could start on August 31 -- has already arrived in the region. The Palestinian health ministry in the occupied West Bank said last week that tests in Jordan had confirmed polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby from central Gaza.
According to the United Nations, Gaza had not registered a case for 25 years, although type 2 poliovirus was detected in samples collected from the territory's wastewater in June. Poliovirus is highly infectious, and most often spread through sewage and contaminated water -- an increasingly common problem in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war drags on. The disease mainly affects children under the age of five.
It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal. UN bodies the World Health Organization (WHO) and children's agency UNICEF say the have detailed plans to vaccinate 640,000 children across Gaza. But a major challenge remains Israel's devastating military campaign, triggered by Hamas's October 7 attack on the country's south.
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