151 people who came into contact with the victim are under observation to prevent the spread of the deadly virus
world16 hours ago
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday that polio had been detected in Gaza and warned that children in the war-ravaged enclave would soon be infected by the disease if preventative measures were not quickly taken.
A day after the WHO said there were "very likely" polio cases among Gaza's population, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to social media platform X to flag concern about the human cost of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
"The detection of polio in Gaza is another reminder of the dire conditions the population is facing," Tedros wrote on X. "The persistence of the conflict hampers efforts to identify and respond to preventable threats such as polio."
Tedros linked his post to an article he had written in French newspaper Le Monde, published late on Tuesday, in which he said poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples in Gaza.
In the article, the WHO chief wrote that although no cases of polio had yet been recorded, "unless immediate action is taken, it is only a matter of time before the disease reaches the thousands of unprotected children" there.
Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the faecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis and death in young children.
Polio cases have declined by 99 per cent worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts to eradicate it.
The WHO is sending more than a million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered in the coming weeks to prevent children from becoming infected with the disease, Tedros said.
151 people who came into contact with the victim are under observation to prevent the spread of the deadly virus
world16 hours ago
Her cheeky expressions and playful frolicking racked up millions of views and have lured thousands of visitors wanting to witness her antics
world1 day ago
China issues red alert, warns of gales and heavy rain
world1 day ago
Celebrity endorsements rarely carry enormous weight, but the hugely popular Swift is seen as being in a class of her own
world1 day ago
Brazil has been parched by a historic drought that experts link to climate change and which has sparked what authorities have called a 'fire pandemic'
world1 day ago
Generative artificial intelligence uses 30 times more energy than a traditional search engine
world1 day ago
SalamAir flight from Bangladesh's Chittagong was diverted to Nagpur Airport following a medical emergency
world1 day ago
The Dragon spacecraft landed in the ocean at 3.37am, a webcast of the splashdown showed, with a recovery team deploying in the pre-dawn darkness to retrieve the capsule and crew
world1 day ago