Pan American Heath Organization says bodies are NOT going

[coffeenap]

to cause widespread disease so it is not necessary to quickly dispose of them without consideration for "ethical, cultural, and human rights concerns."


Katrina Raises Health Concerns
PAHO Director Offers Help to U.S. Health Secretary Mike Leavitt
Washington, D.C., Sept. 1, 2005 (PAHO)—Public health experts are evaluating the health impact of hurricane Katrina and its aftermath among survivors in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

The director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Dr. Mirta Roses, today conveyed her condolences for the loss of human life to U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt and offered PAHO's experience and assistance in dealing with the disaster's aftermath.

"I would like to place at your disposal the staff of PAHO's Area on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief, and indeed our entire public health staff, to provide any cooperation you might require to help restore health services in the wake of this disaster," she wrote.

On top of the physical devastation brought by this unprecedented U.S. natural disaster, there is growing concern about the health of thousands of survivors.

The magnitude of potential health problems that can result from widespread flooding in extensive areas with high population density has been documented by disaster experts at PAHO and other national and international agencies. PAHO has a program dedicated to protecting and assisting populations affected by natural disasters, such as those along the U.S. Gulf Coast now suffering the effects of Katrina.

One of the more tragic aspects of Katrina is the growing number of casualties. Survivors and news reports tell of bodies floating in the floodwaters of New Orleans and in other affected areas.

However, contrary to some media reports, the bodies of natural disaster victims do not themselves pose a risk of epidemics.

An article in the current issue of the Pan American Journal of Public Health debunks the common misconception that cadavers in disaster zones constitute a health risk. In the article, Claude de Ville de Goyet, former head of PAHO's disaster program, and Oliver Morgan, of the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, note that for many years, fear of disease outbreaks has led disaster-affected communities, local authorities, and governments to rapidly dispose of bodies without identifying them.

http://www.disastercenter.com/Katrina%20Federal.html

[SmokingJacket]

1. VERY interesting and important.

Ideally every body should be carefully examined and DNA tests done -- I shudder at the idea of mass graves and what they can hide.

[coffeenap]

5. Same here--I was glad to see it had been sent to HHS.

Do you think they will listen?

[NVMojo]

2. I hope our government listens to them ...

[napi21]

3. I'm no part of the med community, but why don't I believe this article?

We're talking about decomposing bodies, in waste saturated water, in temperatures in the very high 90's, humidity in the high 90%, for over a week.

What possible health hazzard are these people missing?

[moobu2]

4. It's true, I've read quit a bit about it. It's completely true.

[Cassandra]

6. If the person didn't die of disease...

then the body can't transmit a disease to you. Public health officials said that germs don't survive long on a dead host. There are other things in the water that can harm people but the bodies will not (we're assuming no one wants to drink that water).

[moobu2]

8. Here's further information about it

The remains smell, the sight of them can be very disturbing but dead bodies pose little health threat. Disposing of dead bodies in mass out of fear that they will cause illness after some catastrophe, actually does more harm than good... from this article: "Someone who died without cholera isn't suddenly going to generate it," and " Even in people who died with infections,"" the germ also dies quickly, certainly after several days of decomposition."

As the horrifying death toll of the south east Asian tsunami continues to mount, the affected countries are facing a macabre problem: what to do with thousands of dead bodies. In Sri Lanka and Indonesia, many are reported to have been dumped in mass graves, with the aim of preventing disease.

But scientists say that, contrary to popular belief, bodies do not pose a risk of infectious disease. The mass graves, however, could simply worsen the suffering of survivors.

The tsunami is now feared to have caused more than 150,000 deaths, mainly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The World Health Organization is warning that cholera, dysentery, malaria and other infectious diseases could kill a further 150,000 homeless survivors who lack clean water, food or sanitation.

But they do not expect such diseases to come from unburied bodies - diseases and putrefaction are caused by different microorganisms.

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6849

[Sgent]

7. Yes an no

Decomposing bodies by themselves pose no real health issues.

Decomposing bodies in flooded areas and exposed to natural predators and insects can cause many problems -- espcially if they are already infected with disease.

10,000 bodies sealed from outside (for instance in a refrigerated morgue) aren't an issue.