WHO Official Concerns Over Polio Outbreak Risk in Gaza
Ayadil Saparbekov, WHO’s health emergency officer in the occupied Palestinian territories, made assessments regarding the risk of a polio outbreak in Gaza. “I am extremely concerned about the possibility of an outbreak in Gaza,” Saparbekov said at a UN press briefing in Geneva.
Saparbekov reported that there have been no confirmed cases of polio type 2 since the polio virus was detected in wastewater samples collected in Gaza. Saparbekov said that WHO and UNICEF will send 50 polio kits to Gaza on Thursday to determine whether there is an outbreak, and that the tests will be sent to Jordan.
Ayadil Saparbekov stressed that he is concerned not only about the polio epidemic but also about the possible outbreaks of other infectious diseases in Gaza.
WHO Director-General: Type Two Polio Virus Detected in Gaza
Last weekend, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced that type 2 poliovirus had been detected in the southern Gaza Strip’s Khan Younis and central Gaza Strip’s Deir al-Balah cities. Ghebreyesus noted that type 2 poliovirus was detected in six samples taken from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
