Israeli soldiers to receive polio shots after virus detected in Gaza: Reports – POLITICO

Haaretz reported that the IDF is concerned about the prospect of a polio outbreak given the sanitary situation in Gaza. Polio is a fecal-oral disease and infections can be linked to contaminated and poor sewage systems.

“The decimation of the health system, lack of security, access obstruction, constant population displacement, shortages of medical supplies, poor quality of water and weakened sanitation are increasing the risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

After nine months of war, fewer than half of Gaza’s hospitals are functioning, according to the WHO.