When epidemics are involved, of course, disposal of the dead needs to be done with more protective clothing and disinfectant. According to WHO, the benefits of clearing out corpses are mostly psychological (I’d imagine having to constantly sidestep dead bodies is pretty demoralizing), and hasty mass burials only make matters worse for survivors by thwarting the identification of the dead. So negligible is the threat posed by corpses that the World Health Organization (WHO), in its guidelines for dealing with dead bodies in emergencies, urges against rushing them into mass graves, especially if the emergency in question is a natural disaster rather than an epidemic. However even burying bodies in cemeteries doesn’t always prevent this problem. Possible groundwater contamination is the major health threat of improper disposal of bodies, particularly in areas that rely on untreated well water. It’s a bad idea to float a dead body down the Ganges River for the same reason it’s a bad idea to dump raw sewage into it – bacteria in the water supply can cause gastrointestinal illness. But the main risk they pose is basically the same one posed by living bodies – they can pollute the water. It’s not that corpses are completely clean and cuddly and should be stored on your kitchen countertop. And, really, why would you want to do that? Even the famously malodorous compounds Putrescine and Cadaverine – by-products of decay but sometimes also culprits in bad breath – are toxic only if ingested in large doses. By-products of the bacterial boom cause cadavers to bloat and stink and generally upset the senses of the living, but there’s nothing uniquely dangerous in there. This floods the fresh corpse with food, allowing the microbes to multiply. Once the body throws in the towel for good, enzymes begin breaking down our cells (a process called autolysis, or self-digestion). * You see, while dying may be undesirable/inconvenient for the individual, it’s a big party for our inner microbes. The process of decay may look like disease, but the bacteria found in dead bodies are the same ones that exist in the living, there are just a lot more of them. Remember that human rituals for disposal of the dead far predate the germ theory of disease (in which certain microorganisms are responsible for illness and infection, rather than vaporous “miasmas” and other debunked beliefs of yore). That’s because, surprise! Dead bodies aren’t the biohazards many assume them to be. Once you finish reeling from the strangeness of Marsh’s crimes, however, you’ll notice that nowhere on the list of offenses is endangering public health. Marsh pled guilty to multiple charges of theft by deception, fraud, making false statements, and abuse of a dead body. The community and the nation were, naturally, horrified and then furious.

Over 300 bodies were discovered in various states of decay, piled into seemingly every inch of the crematory. Rather than cremating bodies entrusted to him by grieving loved ones, proprietor Ray Brent Marsh – who had recently taken over operations for his ailing father – inexplicably left the dead to decompose in and around the facility. Is there an legitimate reason why I can’t just leave a dead body in my backyard? The vultures would be thrilled.Ī decade ago, the Tri-State Crematory in Noble, Georgia was at the center of a bewildering scandal. And yet wild animals die and decompose all the time and nobody is running into the jungle to make sure their remains are properly buried or burned. Given the effort and expense that go into human post-mortem affairs, it seems reasonable to assume they serve some crucial hygienic benefit. Normally at this point I would have consulted my trusted friend iPhone, but we were camping in an area with spotty reception and so the question went unanswered…until now. ME: Really? Anthrax? Are you sure? That doesn’t sound right… There are dangerous bacteria in rotting bodies, like anthrax or something. ME: What a great idea! Why can’t we do that here? Why can’t we just throw dead bodies into the woods and let vultures handle it?īOYFRIEND: Because you can’t just leave corpses lying around. (The ground in Tibet is apparently cold enough to make grave digging a difficult undertaking.) It was the first time I’d heard of the concept, and I was impressed. The speaker had mentioned a tradition called “Tibetan sky burial”, in which the dead are carried to a location in the mountains where their bodies can be devoured by birds of prey. The conversation was sparked by a lecture on vultures and their role in the ecosystem.

Lugaru throw body