Israel launches polio vaccination campaign after virus found in sewerage

Israel's Health Ministry launched a nationwide vaccination campaign against the polio virus on Sunday, the ministry announced in a statement.

The campaign, set to last for two more months, targets about a million children aged between 4 months to 9.5 years old, after traces of the virus were recently discovered in the sewage system in south and central Israel.

The two-drop vaccination will be administered in 1,000 family health centers across the country.

According to the Health Ministry, most carriers of the virus are children up to the age of 10 that have been inoculated with the killed virus but have not been inoculated with the live, weakened virus.

The majority of Israeli infants and children are vaccinated against the polio virus, but they can still carry the virus and spread it.

"Our findings point to a steady process of contagion and spread. The results of our examinations are clear-cut: Israel is facing a wide polio virus that is passing from one person to another and from a city to another. It's only a matter of time before it spreads to the entire country," the ministry said, urging all parents to get their children vaccinated.

"The danger from this disease is real and imminent, and is not expected to disappear if the children go unvaccinated," it added.

The ministry started administering vaccinations in southern Israel in the beginning of the month, before deciding to go on a full-blown, nationwide vaccination operation. It has been administered in 66 communities until now.