In a statement on Telegram, the ministry on Monday said the situation โposes a health threat to the residents of Gaza and neighbouring countriesโ โ the latest sign of a worsening public health emergency caused by Israelโs genocidal war since October.
Calling the epidemic a โsetbackโ to the global polio eradication programme, the ministry called for an โimmediate intervention to end the [Israeli] aggression and find radical solutionsโ to lack of potable water and personal hygiene, damaged sewage networks and removal of tonnes of rubbish and solid waste.
Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99 percent worldwide since 1988, thanks to mass vaccination campaigns, and efforts continue to eradicate it everywhere.
Earlier this month, Gazaโs Health Ministry announced it had detected โcomponent poliovirus type 2โ in coordination with the United Nations Childrenโs Fund (UNICEF). The virus was found in sewage โthat collects and flows between the tents of the displacedโ, added the ministry.
Already scarce supplies of drinking water in the densely-populated Gaza Strip are at risk of being contaminated by the virus.
On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children from being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples.
Israelโs military, which said it has evidence of the โcomponent polio virus type 2โ, noted it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers in Gaza.
Israelโs war in Gaza has damaged and destroyed sewage and water systems, and sewage has spilled into the streets near some camps for the displaced Palestinians.
Last week, the United Nations reported that besides the detection of the polio virus, there has been a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza.