A mystery disease is starting to sweep through the Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is witnessing alarming health developments, with thousands of cases of a mysterious illness whose nature has not yet been determined, at a time when the health system is suffering from near-total collapse due to Israel’s genocide and its ongoing siege that has lasted for more than ten months.

Gaza: mystery disease engulfing the Strip

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has stated that the symptoms include high fever, joint pain, coughing, runny nose, and severe diarrhea, noting that medical staff are unable to determine the nature of the disease due to the lack of even the most basic laboratory testing equipment.

The director general of the ministry, Dr. Munir al-Barsh, said that doctors in Gaza “practice medicine with primitive means,” adding: “We use bricks to set broken legs, perform operations under the light of mobile phones, and perform manual resuscitation when the electricity is cut off due to fuel shortages.” He considered that these conditions reflect the magnitude of the tragedy that the sector is experiencing, warning that the world’s silence gives the occupation the green light to continue targeting vital sectors and humanitarian workers as part of a policy of genocide.

For his part, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, warned of the rapid spread of the virus within shelters crowded with displaced persons. He explained that the symptoms in those infected appeared to be more serious than expected, with cases of high fever, severe joint pain, coughing, and severe diarrhea lasting for days, stressing that children and older people are most vulnerable to complications.

According to preliminary estimates, thousands of cases have already been recorded, although it is difficult to determine the actual numbers due to the overcrowding in the tents and displacement centers. Doctors attribute the rapid spread of the virus to weakened immunity caused by malnutrition, lack of safe drinking water, and lack of hygiene and sanitation supplies, as well as the crowding of displaced persons in confined spaces, which has created a fertile environment for the spread of disease.

An unknown virus

Abu Salmiya stressed that the unknown virus places an additional burden on an already exhausted health system, issuing an urgent appeal to the World Health Organization and international institutions to provide diagnostic tools and develop urgent treatment protocols, warning that the continuation of the situation without intervention could lead to an unprecedented health disaster.

This development comes amid a comprehensive humanitarian disaster in the sector under the weight of Israeli attacks and a suffocating blockade that restricts the entry of aid. Since the war began on 7 October 2023, the genocide has left more than 62,000 dead and 159,000 wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to more than 9,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced, while famine continues to claim lives, with 317 Palestinians, including 121 children, recorded as having died from hunger and malnutrition.

Featured image via the Canary