Polio, a highly infectious disease that can cause total paralysis, has been detected in Israel for the first time in decades. The case was reported in the capital city of Jerusalem, the first after 1989. 

The Israeli Health Ministry said on Sunday that the polio case was detected in a 4-year-old toddler, who seems to be infected with a strain that has evolved and may infect the unvaccinated, Jerusalem Post reported. The child had also not been vaccinated against polio.

Israeli authorities have also an epidemiological probe to discover more about the case and are reportedly in touch with the family of the 4-year-old.

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Malawi, a country in eastern Africa, recently reported that polio resurfaced in the nation. The strain of the virus found there was later linked to the one in Pakistan, where polio is still considered to be an epidemic. 

Moreover, Jerusalem Post reported that the polio causing virus has previously been found in sewage samples, however, no such cases have been reported.

The Health Ministry of Israel urged everyone to get vaccinated against the disease. Rudolf Schwenk, who is head of UNICEF in Malawi, also highlighted the need for getting vaccinated against polio. 

Schwenk said in a statement, “The resurgence of the wild poliovirus in Malawi … is cause for serious concern. Vaccination is the only way to protect the children of Malawi from this crippling disease which is highly infectious”, Jerusalem Post reported.

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According to the World Health Organization, poliovirus is “transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route” and can “invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.”

Wild poliovirus cases have been significantly curbed across the globe. World Health Organization reported that a 99% decrease has been observed in the case since 1988, when nearly 350,000 instances of infection were seen. In 2019, only 175 cases were reported globally.