Polio has been detected in samples of sewage that is starting to take over Gaza, health authorities in the territory and Israel have said, AFP reports.

The announcement came after a European activist group released a report saying the Gaza Strip is “drowning” in hundreds of thousands of tonnes of human waste and rubble from fighting between Israel and Hamas.

The Gaza health ministry said thousands of displaced people in crowded tent cities were now at risk of contracting the highly infectious disease, which can cause deformities and paralysis.

The health ministry said tests carried out with the UN children’s agency, Unicef, “showed the presence of poliovirus” in the territory. The Israeli health ministry said poliovirus type 2 had been found in Gaza sewage samples tested in an Israeli laboratory.

On top of hunger that UN agencies say has gripped Gaza since fighting erupted on October 7, doctors say scabies, chicken pox, skin rashes and lice are spreading fast. UN agencies have repeatedly warned of the risk of cholera and other more serious diseases becoming epidemics.