I know it's easy for me to say, but backing away isn't going to solve anything. If need be, use the military to come in and restore order. Seize ALL guns and other weapons. Arrest those who break the law. But don't suspend rescue efforts. Come on. That's totally unfair to those that are trapped and want to get out. This sucks.
Pollution, disease, poisonous snakes among dangers in tainted floodwaters
By Bob LaMendola
Health Writer
Posted September 1 2005
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[font=Verdana,Arial, Helvetica]Beyond the risk of drowning, the foul floodwaters swamping New Orleans and the Gulf Coast carry a daunting slew of health dangers in the coming weeks and months.
Waterborne diseases such as hepatitis, as well as mold and toxic chemicals, likely washed into Hurricane Katrina's floods, infectious disease experts said Wednesday. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will breed in the standing water, and venomous snakes normally seen only on rivers may float into contact with humans.[/font]
Down the road when people try to rebuild, many will invariably suffer cuts, bruises and scrapes that will make them vulnerable to infections such as tetanus from the unsanitary water, public health officials said.
"There is definitely a lot of potential danger," said Dr. Charles Mitchell, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Miami medical school. "I'm not saying there will be a major outbreak. But there are lots of things that the authorities will have to deal with."
However, there's no real danger from one grim reality of Katrina: dead bodies in the water. Public health officials said it's a myth that bodies spread disease. Disease-carrying organisms do not live on dead bodies.
New Orleans, where water as deep as 20 feet covered 80 percent of the city, faces the biggest battle with sanitation.
Floodwaters have overrun sewage plants and pipes, becoming contaminated with bacteria, viruses and parasites -- e. coli, salmonella, dysentery and hepatitis A -- that can cause life-threatening diarrhea and stomach infections.
In addition, the water is tainted with gasoline, industrial wastes, farm runoff and garbage. The filth has fouled drinking water supplies.
"It looks like the public sanitation system in New Orleans and the southern Gulf Coast has been compromised," Mitchell said.
Skin contact with the floodwaters alone won't cause illness, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But eating or drinking anything contaminated, even holding food in an unwashed hand, can cause infections.
Floodwaters also promote the growth of mold that can worsen chronic diseases such as asthma and can cause infections if breathed into the lungs, health experts said.
Dirty standing water can hide sharp objects and holes that can cause injuries, said Irving "Doc" Kokol of the Florida Department of Health.
"There will be snakes, ants and other animals you don't want to be in the water with," Kokol said.
Mosquitoes likely won't be a problem initially in areas where the water is too deep and too unstable for the bugs to lay eggs, said Joseph Marhefka, Broward County's mosquito control manager. But once the floods recede to smaller pools, he said, huge numbers of mosquitoes may hatch in the weeks ahead, potentially carrying West Nile virus and other diseases.
Federal and state officials have launched a mosquito-control program for the region, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
Bob LaMendola can be reached at blamendola@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4526.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
By Bob LaMendola
Health Writer
Posted September 1 2005
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=text vAlign=top>
[font=Verdana,Arial, Helvetica]Beyond the risk of drowning, the foul floodwaters swamping New Orleans and the Gulf Coast carry a daunting slew of health dangers in the coming weeks and months.
Waterborne diseases such as hepatitis, as well as mold and toxic chemicals, likely washed into Hurricane Katrina's floods, infectious disease experts said Wednesday. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will breed in the standing water, and venomous snakes normally seen only on rivers may float into contact with humans.[/font]
Down the road when people try to rebuild, many will invariably suffer cuts, bruises and scrapes that will make them vulnerable to infections such as tetanus from the unsanitary water, public health officials said.
"There is definitely a lot of potential danger," said Dr. Charles Mitchell, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Miami medical school. "I'm not saying there will be a major outbreak. But there are lots of things that the authorities will have to deal with."
However, there's no real danger from one grim reality of Katrina: dead bodies in the water. Public health officials said it's a myth that bodies spread disease. Disease-carrying organisms do not live on dead bodies.
New Orleans, where water as deep as 20 feet covered 80 percent of the city, faces the biggest battle with sanitation.
Floodwaters have overrun sewage plants and pipes, becoming contaminated with bacteria, viruses and parasites -- e. coli, salmonella, dysentery and hepatitis A -- that can cause life-threatening diarrhea and stomach infections.
In addition, the water is tainted with gasoline, industrial wastes, farm runoff and garbage. The filth has fouled drinking water supplies.
"It looks like the public sanitation system in New Orleans and the southern Gulf Coast has been compromised," Mitchell said.
Skin contact with the floodwaters alone won't cause illness, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But eating or drinking anything contaminated, even holding food in an unwashed hand, can cause infections.
Floodwaters also promote the growth of mold that can worsen chronic diseases such as asthma and can cause infections if breathed into the lungs, health experts said.
Dirty standing water can hide sharp objects and holes that can cause injuries, said Irving "Doc" Kokol of the Florida Department of Health.
"There will be snakes, ants and other animals you don't want to be in the water with," Kokol said.
Mosquitoes likely won't be a problem initially in areas where the water is too deep and too unstable for the bugs to lay eggs, said Joseph Marhefka, Broward County's mosquito control manager. But once the floods recede to smaller pools, he said, huge numbers of mosquitoes may hatch in the weeks ahead, potentially carrying West Nile virus and other diseases.
Federal and state officials have launched a mosquito-control program for the region, the Department of Health and Human Services said.
Bob LaMendola can be reached at blamendola@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4526.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
