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New Orleans (E.coli found in water)
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| poboxdc@ix.netcom.com 2005-09-24, 2:25 pm |
| Now that e.coli has been found in the standing flood waters,
along with other types of bacteria, I was wondering if
"mother nature" and "sunshine" would kill all the bacterias ...
eventually, after the areas are drained and dried? Can anyone
say for sure.
It seems to me that every resident, guardsman, police officer,
fire and rescue personnel, and any human who comes into contact
with this dirty water is at a high risk for terrible consequences.
(Dead bodies, human waste, etc.)
I see this issue addressed but haven't seen any solutions.
Any comments?
(KM)
| |
| Dave S 2005-09-24, 2:25 pm |
| Wash your hands (using clean water, or waterless hand gel), and dont
drink the standing flood waters.
Dave
poboxdc@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> Now that e.coli has been found in the standing flood waters,
> along with other types of bacteria, I was wondering if
> "mother nature" and "sunshine" would kill all the bacterias ...
> eventually, after the areas are drained and dried? Can anyone
> say for sure.
>
> It seems to me that every resident, guardsman, police officer,
> fire and rescue personnel, and any human who comes into contact
> with this dirty water is at a high risk for terrible consequences.
> (Dead bodies, human waste, etc.)
>
> I see this issue addressed but haven't seen any solutions.
>
> Any comments?
>
> (KM)
| |
| Allison Turner- 2005-09-24, 2:25 pm |
| (If you respond, watch the crossposts...)
on Tue, 06 Sep 2005 22:18:01 -0400, poboxdc@ix.netcom.com stated:
>
>Now that e.coli has been found in the standing flood waters,
>along with other types of bacteria, I was wondering if
>"mother nature" and "sunshine" would kill all the bacterias ...
>eventually, after the areas are drained and dried? Can anyone
>say for sure.
Bacteria (the word is already plural, no need for an s) are
everywhere, and are not completely killed off by mother nature,
sunshine, or even our noxious chemicals. And you want it that
way: there are beneficial bacteria in our bodies that we need
in order to survive. (There are strains of E. coli in your
gut that are not doing you any harm, in fact; it's only some
strains that cause disease.) There are beneficial bacteria in
the environment that help break things down, producing rich
soil for a healthy planet.
But yes, eventually the high levels of the pathogenic forms
of E. coli and other bacteria, without standing flood waters
to thrive in, will be 'tamed' down to a level that is not
problematic.
>It seems to me that every resident, guardsman, police officer,
>fire and rescue personnel, and any human who comes into contact
>with this dirty water is at a high risk for terrible consequences.
>(Dead bodies, human waste, etc.)
It is a risk, definitely. Don't go drinking the stuff,
though, and limit skin contact (especially broken skin),
and most people should be ok. Your skin is a pretty
good barrier to most pathogens. Keep track of what
diseases are appearing in the area, and do what you can
to shield yourself from them, specifically.
>I see this issue addressed but haven't seen any solutions.
Flood waters are like that, I assume. If you have to work
in them, I'd guess the best thing to do is to limit your
exposure as much as possible. It isn't possible to
sterilize the flood waters, nor do I think it would be
environmentally wise, if antibiotics or bleach were used on
such a massive scale. Imagine what it must be like to work
in a tropical country with regular monsoons. You'd have to
deal with this sort of thing all the time.
>Any comments?
Life is rough. Rescue work is even rougher. Pathogens
can be very, very bad things indeed, which is why we wear
them gloves and things. But don't assume that the presence
of any bacteria at all is automatically evil.
-Allison
| |
| dcholiman@ev1.net 2005-09-24, 2:25 pm |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Allison,
I have enjoyed this lecture on the benefits of
swamp bacteria. Now please tell me your
recipe for gator steaks.
Cheers, David H
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| |
| Allison Turner- 2005-09-24, 2:25 pm |
| on 9 Sep 2005 12:00:24 -0700, dcholiman@ev1.net stated:
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Allison,
>
>I have enjoyed this lecture on the benefits of
>swamp bacteria. Now please tell me your
>recipe for gator steaks.
>
>Cheers, David H
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<g>
To confess, I don't actually live anywhere near
southern swamps (so you can adjust your meters on
my knowledge of swamp bacteria accordingly). We
do have mosquitos up my way, though, that people
swear are big enough to chop steaks off of.
-at
| |
| Dave S 2005-09-24, 2:27 pm |
| Wash your hands (using clean water, or waterless hand gel), and dont
drink the standing flood waters.
Dave
poboxdc@ix.netcom.com wrote:
> Now that e.coli has been found in the standing flood waters,
> along with other types of bacteria, I was wondering if
> "mother nature" and "sunshine" would kill all the bacterias ...
> eventually, after the areas are drained and dried? Can anyone
> say for sure.
>
> It seems to me that every resident, guardsman, police officer,
> fire and rescue personnel, and any human who comes into contact
> with this dirty water is at a high risk for terrible consequences.
> (Dead bodies, human waste, etc.)
>
> I see this issue addressed but haven't seen any solutions.
>
> Any comments?
>
> (KM)
| |
| Allison Turner- 2005-09-24, 2:27 pm |
| (If you respond, watch the crossposts...)
on Tue, 06 Sep 2005 22:18:01 -0400, poboxdc@ix.netcom.com stated:
>
>Now that e.coli has been found in the standing flood waters,
>along with other types of bacteria, I was wondering if
>"mother nature" and "sunshine" would kill all the bacterias ...
>eventually, after the areas are drained and dried? Can anyone
>say for sure.
Bacteria (the word is already plural, no need for an s) are
everywhere, and are not completely killed off by mother nature,
sunshine, or even our noxious chemicals. And you want it that
way: there are beneficial bacteria in our bodies that we need
in order to survive. (There are strains of E. coli in your
gut that are not doing you any harm, in fact; it's only some
strains that cause disease.) There are beneficial bacteria in
the environment that help break things down, producing rich
soil for a healthy planet.
But yes, eventually the high levels of the pathogenic forms
of E. coli and other bacteria, without standing flood waters
to thrive in, will be 'tamed' down to a level that is not
problematic.
>It seems to me that every resident, guardsman, police officer,
>fire and rescue personnel, and any human who comes into contact
>with this dirty water is at a high risk for terrible consequences.
>(Dead bodies, human waste, etc.)
It is a risk, definitely. Don't go drinking the stuff,
though, and limit skin contact (especially broken skin),
and most people should be ok. Your skin is a pretty
good barrier to most pathogens. Keep track of what
diseases are appearing in the area, and do what you can
to shield yourself from them, specifically.
>I see this issue addressed but haven't seen any solutions.
Flood waters are like that, I assume. If you have to work
in them, I'd guess the best thing to do is to limit your
exposure as much as possible. It isn't possible to
sterilize the flood waters, nor do I think it would be
environmentally wise, if antibiotics or bleach were used on
such a massive scale. Imagine what it must be like to work
in a tropical country with regular monsoons. You'd have to
deal with this sort of thing all the time.
>Any comments?
Life is rough. Rescue work is even rougher. Pathogens
can be very, very bad things indeed, which is why we wear
them gloves and things. But don't assume that the presence
of any bacteria at all is automatically evil.
-Allison
| |
| dcholiman@ev1.net 2005-09-24, 2:27 pm |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Allison,
I have enjoyed this lecture on the benefits of
swamp bacteria. Now please tell me your
recipe for gator steaks.
Cheers, David H
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| |
| Allison Turner- 2005-09-24, 2:27 pm |
| on 9 Sep 2005 12:00:24 -0700, dcholiman@ev1.net stated:
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Allison,
>
>I have enjoyed this lecture on the benefits of
>swamp bacteria. Now please tell me your
>recipe for gator steaks.
>
>Cheers, David H
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<g>
To confess, I don't actually live anywhere near
southern swamps (so you can adjust your meters on
my knowledge of swamp bacteria accordingly). We
do have mosquitos up my way, though, that people
swear are big enough to chop steaks off of.
-at
| |
| woodman 2005-09-30, 1:14 pm |
| Your skin will protect you, but watch out if you have a cut or open sore...
<poboxdc@ix.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:431E4DD9.9740BE84@ix.netcom.com...
> Now that e.coli has been found in the standing flood waters,
> along with other types of bacteria, I was wondering if
> "mother nature" and "sunshine" would kill all the bacterias ...
> eventually, after the areas are drained and dried? Can anyone
> say for sure.
>
> It seems to me that every resident, guardsman, police officer,
> fire and rescue personnel, and any human who comes into contact
> with this dirty water is at a high risk for terrible consequences.
> (Dead bodies, human waste, etc.)
>
> I see this issue addressed but haven't seen any solutions.
>
> Any comments?
>
> (KM)
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