The Gaza Strip’s first recorded polio case in 25 years has health workers and aid agencies grappling with the steep obstacles to conducting mass vaccination in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
Unrelenting air strikes by Israel more than 10 months into its war against Gaza rulers Hamas, restrictions of aid entering the besieged territory and hot summer temperatures all threaten the viability of a life-saving inoculation drive.
Still, equipment to support the extensive campaign — which UN agencies say could start on August 31 — has already arrived in the region.
The Palestinian health ministry in the occupied West Bank said last week that tests in Jordan had confirmed polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby from central Gaza.
According to the United Nations, Gaza had not registered a case for 25 years, although type 2 poliovirus was detected in samples collected from the territory’s wastewater in June.
Poliovirus is highly infectious, …