What's In The Water!

Wednesday October 21, 2009

I love the month of October in my hometown of Destin, Florida. During October the beaches are not crowded and the weather is usually warm and sunny. Recently I decided it was time to treat myself to a few hours of beach time. It was a glorious decision. I walked in the sugar sand and then waded into the sparkling water. I was peacefully floating there and gazing up at the sky when I hear a woman's voice screaming, "Oh my God! What's in the water? Is that a shark?" My heart skipped a beat and then started slamming against my chest wall as I (along with several other people in the water) frantically struggled to get out of water immediately. Once ashore I started scanning the water to find the vicious shark which had been coming after me and I saw nothing, not even any dolphins. The woman muttered, "Well I thought there was something" and then walked off.

Although I wasn't able to see any dangerous creatures, I still did not feel comfortable getting back into the water. My bliss had been destroyed and so I sat on the beach thinking of all the dangerous things which can lurk in the water. For example there is an invisible killer lurking in the typhoon produced flood waters of the Philippines. It has already claimed over 100 lives and it is named Leptospiroris.

Leptospiroris is a bacterial infection caused by exposure to water which has been contaminated by animal urine. The infected animals are usually rats, mice, or voles but cattle, pigs, dogs, and other wild animals have also been known to spread the disease. This bacterial infection remains contagious as long as it is still moist and is transmitted by ingesting it or by skin exposure. There is no human to human transmission of this disease. This potentially deadly disease is just one of many reasons to use extreme caution with flood waters following a natural disaster.

After thinking about it for a time I decided to go back into the water. I guess I would rather take my chances with a big visible danger rather than with a tiny invisible one.

Additional evacuation information available at www.wineandchocolateplan.com