What is lurking in flood waters following a natural disaster?

                                                       Image credit: LM Otero/Associated Press

The recent Hurricanes [in Florida, Puerto Rico, Houston and other areas] brought many unseen hazards to people affected by flood waters. These waters mix with everything on and under the ground. Industrial solvents and chemicals, animal waste, sewage and pesticides get washed into the flood waters; not to mention sharp objects and unexpected wildlife [snakes, alligators, ants, and rats—to name a few](Brodin, E., 2017).

For those that must wade through and interact in these waters there is potential for spread of diseases and infection. Some of those can be very serious. A few of these potential hazards include leptospirosis, ecoli and vibrio.

Below is a short list of a few resources on the topic. Click on the links to learn more about the dangers lingering in flood waters around the world.

Internet Resources

Brodin, E., 2017. Scientists warn that floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey still pose a lingering threat — here’s what to watch out for. Business insider. Online. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-harvey-floodwater-dangerous-tetanus-2017-8 [Accessed on 11/1/2017]

Kaplan, S. & Healy, J., 2017. Houston’s Floodwaters Are Tainted, Testing Shows. New York Times, Online. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/health/houston-flood-contamination.html?_r=0 [Accessed on 11/1/2017].

World Health Organization, 2012. Leptospirosis. Online. Available at: http://www.wpro.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs_13082012_leptospirosis/en/ [Accessed on 11/1/2017].

Peer reviewed Journal articles:

Ko AI et al., 1999.  Urban epidemic of severe leptospirosis in Brazil. Lancet. Sep 4 354 820 825 
PubMed abstract (Free)  Web of Science

Socolovschi, C., et. al, 2011. Strikes, flooding, rats, and leptospirosis in Marseille, France. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 15 (2011) e710-e715. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2011.05.017

Ayral, F., et. al., 2015. Distribution of Leptospira interrogans by Multispacer Sequence Typing in Urban Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus): A Survey in France in 2011-2013. PLos One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139604 [Accessed on 11/2/2017].