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Flood raises public health risks

Public health threats rise to the surface during a flood like the one in the Midwest with animal waste runoff from farms and overflowing city sewer lines. But people are usually smart enough to avoid what can make them sick, experts say. For example, the 1993 floods in the same region produced no illnesses from contaminated water despite the worries of floating waste, said Nancy Hall, a public health microbiologist at the University of Iowa's University Hygienic Laboratory in Iowa City.

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