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The Gaza Ministry of Health has called for “an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression,” saying the presence of the poliovirus is the direct result of “the destruction of infrastructure.” The Israeli government should provide clean water, repair sewer lines, and reduce overcrowding in the camps for the displaced, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the ministry and its international partners are searching for ways to vaccinate many thousands of children amid an unrelenting war. “Speed and high coverage” with a vaccine specifically targeted against poliovirus type 2 will be essential to stop the outbreak, O’Leary says, and the partners are working furiously on the logistics of getting the vaccine, known as novel OPV2, into the territory quickly.