After the floods in Spain, residents face the risk of a major health crisis

SPAIN – Seven days after the devastating floods which hit the south-east of Spain on October 29 and 30, the inhabitants of the affected municipalities are not yet out of the woods. While the provisional toll shows 219 deaths, search operations continue in the Valencia region, particularly in underground car parks, to find the missing.

But the task is not easy, because of the numerous waste littering the streets of the affected municipalities, but also because of the thick layer of mud which covers homes and public roads. “ Given the amount of mud, shovels and brooms are not what is needed. We need public works equipment to go faster”told franceinfo Thierry Velu, president of the French Disaster Relief Group, an NGO having urgently dispatched men and equipment to the site.

A significant risk of contamination of drinking water

Complicating not only the search for the missing, this mud also raises fears of a significant health risk for the victims, as explained by José María Martín-Moreno, professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Valencia, interviewed by the site. news The Diary. “Stagnant waters, especially those containing mud, provide an ideal environment for the proliferation of vectors (mainly mosquitoes and cockroaches), rodents and microorganisms that can cause infections in humans,” he explains.

In addition to the risk of pest proliferation, mudslides also disrupt the proper functioning of sanitation networks, raising fears of a major risk of contamination of drinking water. In the stagnant waters and mud carried by floods, “we of course find gravel, stones, plants, sand, leaves…”lists for franceinfo Valérie Emphoux, responsible for flood risk management in the Antibes urban community. “But the mud will also mix with everything it finds in its path. Rubbish of all kinds, garbage containers, cigarette butts, droppings, phytosanitary products, and even, also, human or animal corpses. »

Bacterial gastroenteritis, hepatitis A, fungi…

Among the most worrying diseases that could potentially appear in flood-stricken areas, José María Martín-Moreno cites bacterial gastroenteritis, hepatitis A or leptospirosis, a bacterial disease transmitted by rodent urine. . For his part, the president of the decontamination company Sang-Froid, Baptiste Giraudet, reminds franceinfo that contamination with mushrooms “like aspergillus, which can enter through the mouth or eyes and cause fever, cough, difficulty breathing”, cannot be excluded. “In addition, skin and eye infections can occur, and we must not forget the risk of vector-borne diseases”like those transmitted by mosquitoes, adds the professor of medicine, who specifies that “the risk of infection begins to increase between 24 and 72 hours after the flood”.

In the areas affected by the floods, hospitals are already seeing an influx of patients with minor injuries, but who have become infected due to the pathogens present in the thick layer of mud which soils the streets and homes, as illustrated by a France 2 report in a medical center.

Hence the need to clear quickly while respecting safety standards. To avoid any contamination and rule out any epidemic risk, the Spanish Ministry of Health has published a series of recommendations intended for volunteers and residents. They were thus instructed to wear protective glasses, a mask, gloves, to wash their hands frequently and not to eat any food that had been in contact with floodwaters.

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