Jun 27 2005
Health officials in the UK have issued a health warning to festival goers at Glastonbury as they are confronted by a nightmare of mud.
Torrential rain on Friday, has left behind deep mud that stuck to boots, clothes and bodies as the music fans made their way around the site, even though the site was drying out.
The arenas in front of the main stages were reduced to a sea of brown with green grass visible only on the slopes surrounding them.
Large pools of water remain as evidence of the downpour in low lying areas that brought havoc to the site yesterday.
As temperatures rose after toilets had been overturned and spilled by Friday's floods, health officials warned against sliding in the mud or swimming in the pools, and say there is a risk of e-coli infections and even dysentery.
Putting the situation into perspective a spokesman for WaterAid, one of the charities supported by Glastonbury, said festival goers were only being confronted by a health risk routinely faced by people in the Third World, and though the risks are newsworthy at Glastonbury for many people in the Third World seasonal rains wash raw sewage into and around their homes bringing disease and taking lives, on a regular basis.