GAZA, (PIC)
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed on Friday his deep concern over the confirmation that a 10-month-old child has been infected with polio in the Gaza Strip.
“I am gravely concerned that a 10-month-old unvaccinated child from Deir al-Balah, Gaza, has been confirmed to have polio—the first case in Gaza in 25 years,” Ghebreyesus said in a post on X platform.
“WHO and partners urgently worked to collect and transfer stool samples from the child for testing at a WHO-accredited laboratory in the region. Genomic sequencing confirmed the virus is linked to the variant poliovirus type 2 detected in environmental samples collected in June from Gaza’s wastewater.”
The child, who developed paralysis in the lower left leg, is currently in a stable condition, he added.
Given the high risk of poliovirus spread in Gaza and the region, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, WHO and UNICEF are working to implement two rounds of polio vaccination in the coming weeks to halt transmission.
The threat of polio comes as repeated evacuation orders continue to displace thousands in Gaza’s cities of Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah, adding to the physical and mental strain on an already suffering population.
