Irene, New York, and the Potential for Disease

One of my biggest concerns with Irene and New York City is, frankly, the potential for disease.

The potential for disease, I believe, will come in that there is going to be trash all over the streets from this storm coupled with the likelihood of massive flash-flooding and high capacities in the sewers, all of which could easily combine to force the rats to the surface. Nobody knows how many rats there are in New York, but even the lowest estimates I've seen are in the hundreds of thousands. Rats can be nasty little buggers in the disease that they carry.

The rats are infamous not only for frightening and disgusting people, but they also carry serious diseases and parasites such as fleas and ticks. One of the viruses commonly carried by rats is Hantavirus, an incurable and highly fatal pulmonary disease. In addition to this, rats are infamous for harboring the fleas that carried bubonic plague

Original article

This is one of my major concerns when it comes to NYC. With it starting in such a high-traffic, highly populated area, I begin to wonder if this could possibly set off a pandemic.

as I write this, i am sitting in a 2family house currently housing a dozen people, with ice on my forehead cuz i got quite a few bites this evening while putting things away while the rain started picking up.

so at the moment, mosquito-transmitted diseases following all the flooding, is one my my main concerns per your thread. also, just about every time i've had to take the subways (when i used to live here year round) i would get colds, flus etc and it seems theres always people sick coughing, sneezing right on top of you without any manners (i never sit cuz of that). the subway, crowded buses, crowded shopping centers, crowded restaurants, buffets, congested main streets (manhattan) are places i avoid even before 9/11 and now irene.

i dont know what the densest city in the USA is but in my experience it is NYC. i cant think of an outbreak but its bound to happen and i dont know whats the next epidemic, maybe some mutant form of measles or swine flu again? or TB, or MRSA, flesh eating disease, theres so many possibilities when u live like sardines.

Originally posted by ignant

so at the moment, mosquito-transmitted diseases following all the flooding, is one my my main concerns per your thread. also, just about every time i've had to take the subways (when i used to live here year round) i would get colds, flus etc and it seems theres always people sick coughing, sneezing right on top of you without any manners (i never sit cuz of that). the subway, crowded buses, crowded shopping centers, crowded restaurants, buffets, congested main streets (manhattan) are places i avoid even before 9/11 and now irene.

i dont know what the densest city in the USA is but in my experience it is NYC. i cant think of an outbreak but its bound to happen and i dont know whats the next epidemic, maybe some mutant form of measles or swine flu again? or TB, or MRSA, flesh eating disease, theres so many possibilities when u live like sardines.

I can vouch for this. Whenever I visit NYC or London, I always feel like a have this disgusting musk on me. The feeling intensifies, when you have to be there during rush hours or use the underground systems. For being the Economic capitals of the world, they sure are some really disgusting places. It's nice to visit for a few days for the attractions and food, but, I think I'm more of a clean city/nature type guy.

I really hope nothing outbreaks, but I can definitely see the possibility of some outbreak. Apparently the tubes and sewers will be flooded, so there's the quaint possibility, that some old disease is resurrected? In addition, the OPs scenarios seem somewhat realistic.

I just hope that the evacuation of a large group of people, combined with the rains and wins, sweeps away the disease that could possibly be brought up in the first place.

i hate to admit it or be graphic, but the most disgusting things i've seen done in nyc is bums public defecation on the bucket seats in crowded subway car during rush hour. we all tried to hold our breath and rushed out the train car to the next during the following stop. likewise, a few times i been in subway cars when subhuman baboons get into fights over shoving, pushing or stepped on toes, and mace was sprayed and filled the whole car within literally 5 secs. called the cops as we left but likely no one responds because it happens all the time and is probably written off as gangster pranks.

also, public sex in nyc bathrooms. library, subway, bookstore, home depot, u name it. they're filthy, yet so many people find it satisfactory to go in and have intimate relations with a stranger. all over and between filthy bathroom stalls. sorry, tmi

*puke*

anyways, i just google nyc outbreaks and it lists BEDBUGS as a current one, as well as yellow fever, west nile, and various ongoing drug-resistant TB epidemics. i'm a country guy at heart too and could never live in nyc except summer/vacations to visit my folks who won't budge.

sadly, a more severe outbreak is inevitable since 10 yrs ago CIA got caught contaminating its own white house with their own strain of anthrax. the subway system is a likely vector. being stuck in those cars is a death trap.

Has anyone thought about the possiblity of Plum Island being compromised and all that Nasty stuff getting out and killing us all?

This is a good thread. I never really pondered the fact that new york city is crawling with rats and they may be more out in the open due to flooding, not to mention all the rats that will likely turn up after the flooding has ceased. Food for thought.

Oh thank god. Make sure we cover all the potential possibilities that exist for negatively influencing the wave function of our realities.

Rats! i forgot about them in this thread.

well, theres about 10 rats for every new yorker. thats about 100 million if you include some of the many undocumented aliens.

there was a bubonic plague case in NM a few months ago. i'd be more concerned about mutant/new viral/bacterial strains. and if people in stadiums or bomb shelters, then definitely they would pretty much all get TB and all sorts of infections diseases when they go home from the shelter.

reply to post by ignant


You know, that's actually a good point and something to consider as well. With how hot it is and how wet it's going to be, that's actually a very good point. God's speed to you. Good luck, and I wish you good health.