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Occupy Protests Ripe for Health Disasters, Officials Fear

Laurel J. Sweet, Dave Wedge and John Zaremba

Oct. 26--Food-borne illnesses, a flu outbreak, hypothermia, sexually transmitted diseases and vermin are just some of the hazards experts say make Occupy Boston a public health disaster waiting to happen -- as City Hall turns a blind eye.

"The longer you've got a big group of people in an unsanitary location, the more at risk they're going to be for infectious diseases. Time is only beginning to tell where this is going to go," said Janelle Vaesa, a public health researcher who has studied similar deteriorating conditions at Occupy Wall Street in New York.

San Francisco health officials report they've subjected that city's two Occupy sites to twice-daily inspections, and have found a rash of food, garbage and other sanitation issues.

Yet, even as a strong stench has begun rising from Occupy Boston's site in the heart of the city and a weekend snowfall looms, the Boston Public Health Commission told the Herald yesterday it has no plans to inspect the month-old encampment, where dozens of activists are sleeping in abutting tents, without on-site toilets, and food donations are sitting in crates on wet ground, though hand sanitizer appears to be readily available.

BPHC spokeswoman Ann Scales said Boston will offer Occupiers a free on-site flu clinic Friday and is mindful of the potential for "pest infestation." There are no plans to conduct health inspections, she said, though she noted, "From our standpoint, any time people are living in close quarters, the odds of transmittable diseases is there."

After a Herald inquiry yesterday, the Inspectional Services Department will pay Occupy Boston a visit today to check out its makeshift food preparation area, spokeswoman Lisa Timberlake said. City officials said no permits have been issued to the tent city established by anti-corporate protesters who say they are modeling a new society.

Occupy Boston spokesman Nadeem Mazen said the camp's food and sanitation committees have met with a city official to discuss health issues, and insisted the food preparation tent is a "professional operation," where food handlers use gloves and no food is cooked. Of the potential for health problems in the densely occupied half-acre, he said, "I'd be more worried about getting sick from working in an old building with bad ventilation."

When it became apparent Occupy San Franciso was there for the long haul, that city's Health Department began inspecting, spokeswoman Eileen Shields said: "Hand-washing is a problem. Garbage is a problem. They're mixing it with medical waste. Food preparation, food is stored on the ground, food is not being served at the correct temperature. The usual things you might expect to find in people camping outdoors."

Vaesa, who specializes in infectious disease and emergency preparedness, said gastro-intestinal illnesses such as giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis and shigellosis can occur amid unsanitary conditions.

Patrick Maloney, a certified Massachusetts health officer and former regional vice president for the National Environmental Health Association, noted minimum campsite standards apparently are not being met: portable toilets, space between tents, water spigots, showers and emergency exits.

"These are issues of concern," Maloney said. "Even in rural conditions, we have minimum standards that are designed to protect people. There is the potential if the Board of Health is not looking at it that it could be problematic.

"Even if they are attempting to make a good-faith effort, they really should have oversight from the authorities," Maloney said.

Christine McConville, O'Ryan Johnson and Jules Crittenden contributed to this report.

laurel.sweet@bostonherald.com

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