An acute flaccid paralysis/AFP outbreak has been sweeping through the Gaza Strip, with health officials linking the outbreak to the destruction of water treatment facilities by Israeli occupation forces, according to The Independent.
The rare and fatal disease is known to cause rapid-onset muscle weakness and can lead to permanent paralysis or death. In the last three months only, 110 confirmed cases have been recorded in Gaza, according to the report, citing data from WHO.
“To see 110 cases, this is incredible. This is an outbreak, it is alarming for us to see that number,” said Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, head of pediatrics at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. He described the situation as one of the most severe public health challenges facing Gaza since 2023.
Historically, Gaza reported only one or two AFP cases per year. However, the recent collapse of sanitation infrastructure has enabled waterborne viruses to spread at unprecedented rates.
WHO and Dr. Al-Farra have attributed this surge to the systematic destruction of Gaza’s wastewater treatment plants by Israeli airstrikes.
AFP is triggered when certain viruses prompt the immune system to attack the body’s nervous system. In the case of Gaza, the primary cause of the outbreak is Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare autoimmune disorder.
Severe forms of GBS and AFP can lead to lifelong disability or respiratory failure, and may result in death. Gaza’s health ministry announced that 36% of reported GBS cases occurred in children under 15.
At Nasser and Al-Shifa Hospitals—the two epicenters of the outbreak—at least nine people have died from the condition so far.
Palestinian and Israeli health officials, along with WHO representatives, told The Independent that life-saving treatment for the disease is unavailable anywhere in the Gaza Strip, which the Israeli occupation army has denied.
This latest crisis comes amid ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza, which resumed after Israel rejected the second phase of a ceasefire agreement brokered in January. Talks for a new truce remain stalled.
The Gaza health ministry had previously declared a poliovirus outbreak in July after traces were found in wastewater samples tested with UNICEF support.
In the same month, Oxfam reported that Israeli occupation forces had destroyed 70% of Gaza’s sewage pumps and all wastewater treatment plants, accusing Israel of blocking water testing equipment.
Last Thursday, Doctors Without Borders said that Israel was “deliberately depriving people of water in Gaza,” noting that since June, Israel had approved only one in ten requests for water desalination materials.
