Those going back into towns flooded by the Ohio River and its tributaries were told to get tetanus shots to protect them against floodwaters fouled with human and animal waste picked up from fields, sewage plants and backed-up sewers.
Kentucky's top health official also has been offering common-sense advice to those cleaning up: If it's dirty, wash it off, then wash yourself off. If it stinks, throw it away. If it's wobbly, don't go in it.
"In general, if there's a question, throw it out," Dr. Rice Leach said. "Some of these things are pretty nasty."
In this town of 2,700, where raging water from the Licking River knocked homes off their foundations and filled others to their rooftops, nearly all food has to be thrown out, unless it is in cans.
National Guard dump trucks have been running convoys to landfills, with trash including everything from liquor store bottles to soggy mattresses and prescription drugs from flooded pharmacies.
Steady winds picked up the dust yesterday that had been mud only a few days earlier, spreading a layer of grime over cars and recently cleaned store windows. Some people cleaning up wore surgical masks for protection.
Blue portable toilets dotted street corners for those still without water.
Since the flooding began 10 days ago, state health officials have distributed enough vaccine in stricken areas to provide more than 40,000 tetanus shots. More than 6,000 vaccinations have been given in the Falmouth area alone, with visitors and even news reporters lining up for shots.
"We've got an assembly line going that's just moving along here," Hardin County nurse Barbara Kovalckik said as 16 people waited to roll up their sleeves for shots at an aid station near the flooded town of West Point.
Health officials planned to study the long-term health effects of the flooding. But for flood victims around the state, concerns were much more immediate.
Cleanup kits offered by relief agencies were snapped up. The most useful household appliance for many was a 5-gallon bucket of water mixed with chlorine bleach - the solution recommended for cleaning virtually everything.
"A lot of things can't be adequately cleaned and sanitized," said Mark Hooks, one of squads of health department officials dispatched to flood-ravaged towns.
Dead farm animals have been spotted along roadsides as the waters recede. State agriculture officials said dead livestock can only be taken by an authorized rendering company, buried on the owner's land or incinerated.
Another concern is snakes, both in places where the waters have receded and downstream, where the water is still rising.
Beth and Matt Adams' trailer in the western Kentucky town of Birdsville refused to leave their trailer, sitting 15 feet from the rampaging Ohio River. They worried more about snakes than high water.
"I've shot 15 to 20 of them so far," Adams said. "We've got all kinds around here, from moccasins to copperheads. The water is forcing them to higher ground. We want to get the snakes before they get to us."
AP PHOTO
Paul Lore, Sr. of Shelby County Sheriff's Emergency Services, helps residents load belongings from their trailer into a boat after the Ohio River flooded.