Beware the Floodwater
By Neil Daniels

Thursday I did something extraordinarily foolish. I walked through the Iowa River floodwaters to get back home.

I know the risks but before I realized it I knew I had gone too far to turn back. The next day I went sandbagging and cut my thumb. I will be seeking a tetanus booster ASAP.

I offer this note of caution to people working in the floodwater:
The Iowa River is Iowa's most polluted river systems with pesticide and agricultural runoff. America also has a terrible habit of dumping antibiotics in our waterways creating a microscopic ecological arms race between bacteria and antibiotics with humans too often caught in the evolutionary crossfire.

Odds are in the bacteria¢s favor.                      

The Johnson County Health Department has recommended people exposed to floodwaters get a tetanus shot every ten years or been living a physically active lifestyle for five years since your last booster shot. The bacterium Clostridium tetani is an anaerobic (without air growing) bacterium similar to botulism. C. tetani releases a neurotoxin causing the all too often fatal condition known as lockjaw. If you have an infection or been exposed to floodwaters- it¢s wise to seek medical advice and get a tetanus booster shot just to be safe rather than sorry later.