14 DAY TRIAL // "Human contact with the flood water should be avoided as much as possible," warned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, during a conference call with reporters. "Our initial samplings indicate counts for E. coli and coliform in these areas greatly exceed EPA's recommended level for contact." "The EPA tested for more than 100 chemicals in the city's polluted residential neighborhoods and is still testing in Mississippi and Alabama", Johnson said.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged the city's remaining residents to comply with the evacuation order and recommended rescue workers wear protective clothing.
"We believe the health hazard from this water is still a very important threat for people who have yet to evacuate," Gerberding said. "The results from the EPA indicate the water is full of sewage. We know it's not safe."
"The main concern is exposure to organisms that cause intestinal and diarrheal diseases, many of which are annoying but not life threatening", she concluded.
Well, it seems to me that's not the main concern anymore, as the CDC received reports from state and local health officials of five cases of vibrio vulnificus, which caused four deaths, agency spokesman Tom Skinner told MarketWatch. One person in Texas and three of four victims in Mississippi died of the disease, he said.
"Vibrio vulnificus is a milder bacteria in the same family as cholera that enters the body through a cut, scratch or wound or by drinking or eating something, often shellfish, contaminated with it. It can be treated with antibiotics if recognized early. If evacuees or rescue workers notice a suspicious wound that's red, swollen or tender at the site of infection and is sometimes accompanied by a fever, they should try to get immediate medical care", Skinner explained.