A Tennessee reader sent me the 2012 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the incidence of Tuberculosis in the US.
It is interesting to note that although the number of cases has dropped slightly from 2011, we still had 9,445 cases in the US and 63% of them are among the foreign-born population. (It sure is a good thing we have Obamacare to take care of the expensive meds for all these people!—right?)
Also of interest is that the states which have the highest number of refugees—California, Texas, New York, and Florida—also have the most TB cases (although the largest number of cases are from Mexico! not from the top-sending refugee countries).
Here is a bit from the Executive summary:
In 31 states, ≥ 50% of TB cases occurred among foreign-born persons (Table 34).
In 8 states, ≥ 70% of TB cases occurred among foreign-born persons (Table 34).
In 3 states, ≥ 75% of TB cases occurred among foreign-born persons (Table 34).
In 10 states, ≥ 75% of TB cases occurred among foreign-born persons (Table 34).
Scroll to the bottom of Table 34 and note that Wyoming, which takes no refugees! and is likely the least diverse state in the country, has the fewest cases. BTW, Vermont which has here-to-fore been the least diverse state (and still may be) won’t be for long because the refugee contractors are busy resettling refugees there.
Also from the summary:
In 18 states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington), ≥ 70% of TB cases occurred among foreign-born persons
When you visit Table 6, note that Mexico is the top sending country for TB to America. And, of course the Mexicans are not arriving as refugees but as illegal aliens.
Does anyone know if when they do those questionable studies of how much immigrants contribute to the local economy whether they factor in the cost of treating difficult diseases?
And, when refugees and migrants move around the US, does anyone track them to be sure they stay on their TB meds? Maybe it’s in the full report, here (200 plus pages), but I didn’t read the whole thing.
Update: Superbugs could erase a century of medical advances, here.