The New York Department of Health is urging residents to receive polio vaccinations prior to traveling to Israel, where several children have tested positive for the virus. The call for vaccination comes after four cases of polio were diagnosed in the city of Tzfas earlier this month, one year after a small outbreak in the country. The New York Health Department has been working with their Israeli counterparts to coordinate a response, and advises travelers to adhere to guidelines from the US Center for Disease Control. In addition to Israel, the CDC has issued polio-related precautions for travel to several other countries, including the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, and several central African countries. Polio is a viral disease that mostly affects children and can cause disability, paralysis, and death. Although polio vaccinations are now standard for children and an effective preventive measure, vaccine skepticism has allowed the disease to occasionally resurface. A 2018 outbreak in Israel prompted a vaccination campaign to combat the disease, which had been declared eradicated in 1988. Israel’s Health Ministry recently stated that over 150,000 Israeli children remain unvaccinated against polio, citing evidence of the virus spreading through sewage systems. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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