Yikes! Literally moments after posting my previous post on Tuberculosis in the US refugee population, up pops another shocking report from Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart with the news that yes, indeed, there is active TB in the refugee community (at least in Indiana!).
Just a reminder, in 2007, it was news from Indiana, from Ft. Wayne to be exact, that alarmed me and was part of the inspiration for me to continue writing this blog. See that original post here (Ft. Wayne freaking out!).
Now to Breitbart:
Four refugees sent to Indiana by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement in 2015 were diagnosed with active tuberculosis once they arrived in the Hoosier State, according to the Indiana Department of Health.
Active tuberculosis (TB) is infectious, while so-called “latent TB” is not infectious. But 10 percent of those infected with latent TB develop active infectious TB.
In 2015, almost 400 migrants with latent TB settled in Indiana, according to state records. The state’s TB rate had declined for the 54 years up to 2010, but it now increasing as more migrants settle in the state.
Continue here. You don’t want to miss this!
Be sure to note the large percentage of refugees who arrived in the state and were never health-screened at all after arriving.