Illustrative: An Israeli child receives a polio vaccine as part the government’s immunization campaign against the disease in the southern city of Beersheba August 5, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Israel is rolling out a nationwide polio vaccination drive for children aged six weeks to 17 years following an outbreak of the disease in the Jerusalem area in recent weeks, the country’s health ministry announced on Tuesday.

The nationwide vaccination campaign comes after the first symptomatic case of polio in more than 30 years was detected in March, in an unvaccinated four-year-old girl from the city of Jerusalem. Since then, another eight cases of the poliovirus have been diagnosed in asymptomatic children, all in the Jerusalem area — spurring concerns of the potential for a wider outbreak.

“A vaccinated child is a protected child,” Israel’s Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said during a press conference. “As during corona, this campaign is a matter of social solidarity: those who are vaccinated protect themselves, their environment, and prevent the next case, God forbid, of paralysis of children.”

“We have millions of vaccines. The vaccine has been used for decades, it is safe and effective,” Horowitz added.

Out of the nine polio cases, only one child was fully vaccinated, Horowitz said. In addition, the health ministry disclosed that traces of the disease have been detected in the sewage system in cities other than Jerusalem, including Beit Shemesh, Tiberias, Bnei Brak and Modiin Illit.

Polio is a highly viral disease belonging to a group of intestinal viruses that largely affects children under five years of age. The virus is transmitted person-to-person and spread mainly through the fecal or oral route or, less frequently, by contaminated water, according to the World Health Organization. In 10 percent of positive cases, the virus causes permanent paralysis, often of the legs by attacking the nervous system. Paralysis can occur as quickly as within a few hours of infection. There is no medical treatment or cure for polio, but the disease can be prevented effectively by vaccination.

Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash stated that the government hopes that the announced campaign will lead to a national vaccination rate of at least 90 percent.

“We are embarking on a drive against time to prevent the next case and wipe out the disease,” Ash said.

Israel has administered vaccination against polio since 1957, but the health ministry raised concerns that children born between 2005 through 2013 may have not been given the full number of doses necessary to protect against infection. Officials have urged parents to check the vaccination status of their children younger than 17, and finish the remaining doses if necessary.

Since the most recent outbreak, about 25,000 people have been vaccinated in Jerusalem and its surroundings, the health ministry said.