First case of polio confirmed in a 10-month-old child in Gaza, Palestinian health officials say
Palestinian health officials say the first case of polio has been recorded in an unvaccinated 10-month old-child in the Gaza city of Deir al-Balah
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian health officials on Friday reported the first case of polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old child in the Gaza city of Deir al-Balah, the first case in years in the coastal enclave that has been engulfed in the Israel-Hamas war since Oct. 7.
After discovering the child's symptoms, tests were conducted in Jordan’s capital of Amman and the case was confirmed to be polio, the health officials said.
The potentially fatal, paralyzing disease mostly strikes children under the age of 5 and typically spreads through contaminated water. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where the spread of polio has never been stopped.
The World Health Organization did not immediately respond to requests to confirm the case. However, U.N. health and children’s agencies have called for seven-day pauses in the fighting, starting at the end of August, to vaccinate 640,000 Palestinian children against polio.
