Disease fears as UK floodwaters rise

THOUSANDS of people affected by Britain's worst floods in living memory have been left without fresh drinking water as health experts warned of the potential for mass casualties and even deaths from contact with contaminated floodwater.The warnings came amid expectations of further water surges in southern England,with six severe flood warnings in place, as tributaries feeding the Thames engulfed several areas in the university city of Oxford overnight.Of mounting concern was the effect of contaminated floodwaters,with one health expert recommending children not wade into the water.
"There are still very real health risks and hygiene risks-it's vital people don't become
complacent,"Ian Cluckie,chairman of the government-backed Flood Risk Management Research Consortium,was quoted as saying in the Daily Mail."The problem is the water...will become contaminated with raw sewage,which means that there will still be E coli in there,"he said.It could lead to cholera or dysentery,Professor Cluckie said.Microbiologist Ken Flint told British tabloid the Daily Mirror yesterday that potentially lethal bacteria such as E coli and salmonella would be left behind in the sludge in houses and streets for weeks or even months after the floods recede.Dr Flint warned the elderly,the very young and the infirm were at serious risk from gastroenteritis."I expect to see three to four times the normal rate for these diseases in coming weeks. That would mean the potential for low hundreds of people dying."The newspaper quoted a Health Protection Agency spokeswoman warning of a "degree of faecal contamination" in the floodwaters."There is a risk of pathogens,which can carry gastro-intestinal infections, being present in the water,"she said.Water utility Severn Trent has set up 900 mobile tankers in Tewkesbury and the nearby cities of Cheltenham and Gloucester, while the army has been drafted in to provide four million litres of bottled drinking water amid warnings that supplies to parts of Gloucestershire could be cut off for at least two weeks.Emergency measures have been triggered for the 140,000 homes and more than 350,000 people affected.Martin Horwood,MP for the Cheltenham area of Gloucestershire, said he "checked a dozen(tankers)late last night, and found the majority empty."Beer tankers have also been used to provide water to places hardest hit.Police warned that a small minority of people were attempting to profiteer from the high demand for clean water by reselling water,or emptying tankers with large receptacles.
County authorities said 1300 portable toilets were being provided for vulnerable people in places such as care homes.Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday pledged a review of Britain's utilities infrastructure, drainage and flood defences.Analysts estimated the floods could cost the insurance industry pound stg. 3billion ($7billion) and hit farmers and food crops.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22142749-401,00.html
As in the days of Noah...