WHO voices 'extreme' concern over possibility of mass outbreak of polio in Gaza

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday expressed "extreme" concern over a possible mass outbreak of polio in Gaza following the recent detection of poliovirus in sewage.

"I'm extremely worried about an outbreak that could be happening in Gaza," Ayadil Saparbekov, the team lead for health emergencies at WHO in the occupied Palestinian territory, told a UN press briefing in Geneva via video link from Gaza.

Saparbekov stressed that he is not only worried about a polio outbreak but also different outbreaks of communicable diseases that may happen in Gaza.

He said no human cases have been confirmed yet since traces of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 were found in environmental samples collected from sewage in Gaza.

To identify any possible human case, WHO and UNICEF will bring up to 50 human sample kits to Gaza in the next rotation of their team on Thursday, he noted. The samples will then be sent to a lab in Jordan for testing.

"With the crippled health system, lack of water and sanitation, as well as lack of access of the population to the health services, specifically primary health care services, this is going to be a very bad situation that we may face in Gaza," he said, and warned: "We may have more people dying of different communicable diseases than from the injury-related diseases, conditions."

WHO has reported that poliovirus (variant 2) has been found in at least six wastewater samples in Gaza. The samples have been collected from two different locations: Khan Younis in the south and in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

- Medical evacuations to Spain

Saparbekov said 16 children, evacuated from Gaza to Egypt, will be transferred to Spain, along with 25 companions, on Thursday.

WHO, in collaboration with the European Commission Emergency Response Coordination Center and the Spanish government, is facilitating this medical transfer, he said.

Noting that there are 13 injured minors, one cancer patient, and two with chronic heart disease, he thanked the government of Spain for their generosity.