Risks posed by dead bodies after disasters (source WHO)

Contrary to common belief, there is no evidence that corpses pose a risk of epidemic disease after a natural disaster. Most agents do not survive long in the human body after death. Human remains only pose a substantial risk to health in a few special cases, such as deaths from cholera or haemorrhagic fevers.

Workers who routinely handle corpses may however risk contracting tuberculosis, bloodborne viruses (eg hepatitis B and C and HIV) and gastrointestinal infections (e.g. cholera, E. coli, hepatitis A, rotavirus diarrhoea, salmonellosis, shigellosis and typhoid/paratyphoid fevers):

ƒ Tuberculosis can be acquired if the bacillus is aerosolized – residual air in lungs exhaled, fluid from lungs spurted up through the nose or mouth during handling of the corpse. ƒ Bloodborne viruses can be transmitted via direct contact of non-intact skin or mucous membrane from splashing of blood or body fluid or from injury from bone fragments and needles. ƒ Gastrointestinal (GI) infections can easily be transmitted from faeces leaked from dead bodies. Transmission occurs via the faecal–oral route through direct contact with the body, soiled clothes or contaminated vehicles or equipment. GI infections can also be spread as a result of contamination of the water supply with dead bodies.

Information on these risks should be provided to both emergency workers and the general public to ensure adequate disposal of bodies, appropriate precautions when handling bodies and to avoid panic and misunderstanding.

General advice ƒ In the case of mass casualties and where identification of victims is no longer possible, burial is preferable to cremation. ƒ Burial in mass graves is not a recommended public health measure. It can violate important social norms and waste scarce resources. ƒ The families’ needs and social customs for funerals should be respected. If customs vary, each social group should be provided with a designated area, with the relevant materials, to be able to exercise their own traditions with dignity. ƒ Where existing facilities such as graveyards or crematoria are inadequate, alternative facilities should be provided.

Specific advice for workers handling corpses ƒ Graveyards should be at least 30 m from groundwater sources used for drinking-water. ƒ Grave floors must be at least 1.5 m above the water table, with a 0.7 m unsaturated zone. ƒ Surface water from graveyards must not enter inhabited areas. ƒ Exercise universal precautions taken when handling blood and body fluids. ƒ Use gloves once only and dispose of correctly. ƒ Use body bags. ƒ Wash hands with soap after handling bodies and before eating. ƒ Disinfect vehicles and equipment. ƒ Be vaccinated against hepatitis B. ƒ There is no need to disinfect bodies before disposal (except in case of cholera)

©World Health Organization. Extract from WER No. 3, 2005, 80, 21–28, published by WHO Unit on Disease Control in Humanitarian Emergencies. References: 1. Morgan, Oliver. Infectious disease risks from dead bodies following natural disasters. Pan American Journal of Public Health, 15(5):307–312.; 2. PAHO. Management of dead bodies after disasters: a field manual for first responders. Washington, D.C: PAHO, 2009.

Illegitimi non carborundum

Can you tell I am getting tired of all the political diatribes and grandstanding? Man, we have another 7+ months to go! Is there anyone who seriously does not know how they are going to vote?

Ok, there is the 45 Klan and the 44 Klan so who to chose? I definitely do not like most of the 45 Klan but then again, I was getting a bit tired of the reverse bias of the 44 Klan ( the general electorate was not as smart as the 44 Klan). I think I could hold my own with most of the 45 Klan and exceed most but the support mechanism of really, really smart bureaucrats does not exist for them – they made them mad early on.

Within the USA there exists two major Klan supporter groups: The Lemmings for 45 and Rose-High for 44. The Lemming Klan will support almost anyone they are told to support and follow them to the bitter, final end. The Rose-High Klan is more or less divided into the Young-Punks, the Unjaded-Celebrates and the $$$$-Guys.

The Lemming Klan does not care if you are right or wrong, immoral or unethical or even constitutional. In my estimate they are brown shoe thugs; however I may be wrong and they have virtues that elude me. Basically, everyone of them considers themselves constitutional patriots. Why Christians support them I cannot even fathom.

The Rose-High Klan has a lot of humanity, a lot of peaceful hearts and are generally moral and ethical. These guys soft peddle too much and take the moral high ground too much and are the opposite of the brown shoe thugs. Most of this catagory would consider themselves social patriots. I am chagin and amazed that more of the Christ Centered Christians have not shifted.

This may be continued or not and will depend on inspiration and time.

Joe Biden to his 12 year old self

Sometimes I like to read more than view but if you don’t then go Youtube Here

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Dear Joe,

You’re only twelve. Your stutter is debilitating. It embarrasses you, and the bullies are vicious.

But listen to Mom when she says, “bravery resides in every heart” — and yours is fierce and clear. Listen to Dad when he says, “we get knocked down, and then we get right back up.”

Because if you listen, you’ll summon the bravery to overcome the stutter and stand up to the bullies.

You’ll learn from Dad who moved the family to look for work — that a job is a lot more than a paycheck; it’s about dignity and respect.

You’ll learn from him that the cardinal sin is the abuse of power — and you have an obligation to fight the abuse whenever you see it.

And that’s why you’ll follow your heart to serve your community, state, and your country.

An intolerance for the abuse of power will drive you to stand up for civil rights, end the scourge of violence against women, confront corporations polluting the environment, and fight crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing around the world.

And because you listened, you’ll live a life fully consistent with what you were taught by Mom and Dad and your faith.

That you should say what you mean and mean what you say.

That we cannot serve ourselves at the expense of others.

Leading by the power of example will define you, and one day, find yourself forging a relationship with a Jesuit Pope who embodies that universal truth.

But you’ll also learn early — and later — in life that reality has a way of intruding.

One day you’re on top of the world, only to be brought down in a flash with a profound loss and grief that leaves a black hole in your heart, questions of faith in your soul, and an anger beyond rage.

That’s when you’ll have to dig deep and live what Mom taught you — that out of everything terrible that happens, something good will come if you look hard enough.

You’ll hold on with faith and pure grit.

You’ll be blessed with a love that will anchor you as deeply as your faith.

Your bond with your children and grandchildren will be your redemption.

Your ties with your sister and brothers will hold you tighter together.

Because of a family grounded in unconditional love and loyalty, and the compassion of friends and strangers, you’ll not only get help.

You’ll get up. You’ll keep going. You’ll give back in kind.

You’ll realize that countless people have suffered equally or more, but with much less support and much less reason to want to get through it.

But they too get up. They too keep going. As you will.

You’ll learn what it means to be an American. There’s no quit in America.

You’ll learn that happiness and success in life is an accumulation of a thousand little things built on the character of who we are as Americans.

A country where no one is better than you, and everyone is your equal — regardless of who they are, what they do, where they come from, or who they love.

You’ll learn that it’s about being personal. Being there for family and friends. Serving your country.

Building real relationships, even with people with whom you vehemently disagree.

That’s America — made up of ordinary people, like you, doing extraordinary things.

And one day when you graduate from law school, you’ll decide to become a public defender.

In the midst of the epic struggle for civil rights, you’ll be walking the streets on the east side of Wilmington, much of which has been burned to the ground after your heroes were assassinated.

Forty years later, you’ll stand on a train platform overlooking the east side. Wilmington and the nation are no longer aflame, but awaiting a new ripple of hope.

You’ll be waiting for a young black man, inspired by the dream of a King, coming from Philadelphia to pick you up and take you on a 124-mile trip to Washington to be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States.

Together, you’ll prove that change is hard but necessary; progress is never easy but always possible; and things do get better on our march toward that more perfect union.

That’s the history of the journey of America.

And believe it or not, because you listened to Mom and Dad, you’ll help write it.

Keep the faith, Joey.

Lunch time & hungry

Today while cruising the net I came across this I came across the Atlas Obscura article : https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/best-cooking-videos. It features 7 channels for the pandemic stay at home foody. I like Grandpa’s Kitchen best.

Wolves of Stanislav

We are here again and on a global scale with all the nukes, nations leaders and even individual misguided peoples, we are the wolves slaying each other

And then had it be retranslated for myself, the World War I poem from 1914 written about Gródek, a Galician city not far from Stanislau that ends with the stanza:

A thorn-studded wilderness girds the city.
From bloody stairs the moon
Chases terrified women.
Wild wolves have stormed through the gates.

Now, the pandemic Covid-19 storms through the gate and we receive our just rewards for not doing what was moral, ethical and what we knew was correct sans the political right.