Nearly seven months after the first H1N1 influenza cases were registered in Israel and the West Bank, five cases of the disease were confirmed in the Gaza Strip on 6 December, according to the Palestinian health authority.
"The illness has hit Gaza, [but] we have a national plan to deal with it," Hassan Khalaf, deputy health minister in Gaza, told the media. Rumours of two deaths from H1N1 have not been confirmed.
An Israeli Health Ministry official who preferred anonymity told IRIN: “We suspect this infection follows the return of pilgrims from the `Haj’.”
Israel delivered some 5,000 H1N1 vaccinations to Gaza prior to 27 November, but some aid workers are concerned about the lack of vaccinations and what they called “fertile ground'” for an outbreak of H1N1, given the precarious hygiene and medical conditions in the enclave resulting from the 30-month Israeli blockade.
According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the population of Gaza is about 1.4 million.
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"The illness has hit Gaza, [but] we have a national plan to deal with it," Hassan Khalaf, deputy health minister in Gaza, told the media. Rumours of two deaths from H1N1 have not been confirmed.
An Israeli Health Ministry official who preferred anonymity told IRIN: “We suspect this infection follows the return of pilgrims from the `Haj’.”
Israel delivered some 5,000 H1N1 vaccinations to Gaza prior to 27 November, but some aid workers are concerned about the lack of vaccinations and what they called “fertile ground'” for an outbreak of H1N1, given the precarious hygiene and medical conditions in the enclave resulting from the 30-month Israeli blockade.
According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the population of Gaza is about 1.4 million.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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