Congress must tighten Tuberculosis testing and reporting requirements for refugee flow

01/12/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Michael Patrick Leahy writing at Breitbart published one more report in his series that extensively analyzes the Tuberculosis problem in the US refugee population. Here we learn that in Illinois, 8 cases of ACTIVE TB were discovered in newly resettled refugees.

tb-symptoms-treatment — If you volunteer with a resettlement agency and spot any of these symptoms report it immediately and protect yourself.

This report demonstrates one of my greatest concerns and that is: how long are refugees with active TB wandering around your towns and cities, going to school, shopping at Walmart, and otherwise interacting with the community before anyone even tests them?
Here is Leahy:

The Illinois Department of Public Health has confirmed that eight refugees were diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB) “during the initial health screening or within 90 days of the refugee arrival” in the four years between 2012 and 2015. [Within 90 days! So they are walking around with active TB for months!—ed]

This data was not included in the Reported Tuberculosis in the United States documents published annually by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) between 2012 and 2015. Those reports confirmed 1,565 cases of active TB diagnosed among refugees in the 46 states that reported immigration status upon first arrival among foreign-born residents of the United States diagnosed with active TB.

Illinois is one of four states that do not share this data with the CDC. Arizona, Virginia, and Washington are the other three states.

[….]

“CDC encourages states/jurisdictions to provide as complete information as possible, but there is no requirement that they provide immigration status as part of routine surveillance,” a spokesperson told Breitbart News on Monday.

Limiting reporting of cases of TB diagnosed upon arrival, however, fails to capture the majority of the refugee TB cases which develop and are diagnosed more than a year after their arrival.

And, since we are told constantly that refugees can move anywhere they want within the US, how are those cases followed up?
Please go here to read the rest of the story.
And, to see all of Leahy’s reports, click here.

Where is Congress?

There are many things Congress can do to reform the US Refugee Admissions Program and dealing with the health issues presented by refugees who have apparently not been screened and barred from entry is a pretty easy fix.
Congress could require screening abroad and turn away all with both LATENT and definitely those with ACTIVE TB! Many with latent TB will eventually become active TB and you, the US taxpayer, will foot the bill for their meds! You are footing it right now!
And, your health and your family’s health is at risk!

City Journal: Refugees bring numerous health problems with them to your towns; more reporting needed

10/20/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

LOL! But New York City dwellers need not worry too much because most refugees resettled in the state of New York go to other towns and cities. New York is virtually always in the top five resettlement states in the nation.
This article at City Journal by Jonathan Leaf is a bit strange as one is initially cautioned about using fear mongering on the subject of refugee health, but when you read carefully writer Leaf then tells readers about some serious health concerns and he wraps up with this paragraph:

Regardless of their views of secularism, constitutionalism, or jihad, refugees entering the United States from the Middle East may be vulnerable to or carrying an array of potentially serious ailments. Thoughtful reporting on this aspect of the refugee debate is long overdue.

We have been doing thoughtful reporting on refugee health issues for nine years! For any serious student of refugee health, visit our ‘health issues’ category with 319 previous posts on the topic.

congolese-fig12 — We are bringing in 50,000 from the DR Congo at this time. Communicable diseases found in Congolese refugees during domestic medical examinations in 6 states from 2010–2013 (n=2,355)* From the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/profiles/congolese/health-information/communicable-disease/std.html

Here (below) is more from City Journal. I don’t see any mention of huge mental health treatment needed by refugees or any mention of who is paying for all the treatment (that would be you, the taxpayer).

Most of the critical comments in the press—and almost all of the hostile insinuations from our politicians—about the arrival of refugees from the Middle East have focused on the newcomers’ Islamic faith. The persistent question being asked is, “What are the implications of a growth in the numbers of Muslims in our country?” This might be a legitimate concern, but it’s obscuring immediate issues about the health of these refugees. That subject is either ignored or presented in hysterical terms.

[….]

For residents of New York City, afflictions affecting refugees are unlikely to have much immediate consequence. That’s because the federal agency coordinating refugee resettlement is bringing roughly 95 percent of refugees entering the state to locations outside the city. In addition, all refugees entering the country receive two medical screenings. One, which is intensive, is undertaken three to six months before arrival. A much briefer follow-up examination is done just before the refugee comes to our shores. [As we have said previously, having been screened does not mean they are screened out and denied entry!—ed]

[….]

Many refugees now arriving in the United States are affected by potentially serious communicable ailments. Indeed, since at least 2001, health authorities in Minnesota have known that more than one-third of those in the state with active tuberculosis cases were Somali immigrants. This problem has existed among many other immigrant groups as well, according to a study published by the National Institutes of Health, including patients from “Ethiopia, Laos, Mexico, Vietnam, Mexico, Liberia and India.” Thus, by 2014, 73 percent of tuberculosis cases in Minnesota affected the foreign-born, and approximately two-thirds of TB cases nationally are found among immigrants.

[….]

The infected may develop the disease later or act as carriers of the bacillus.

Measles has become endemic in Syria, and Syrians show high rates of infection with highly communicable hepatitis A. Refugees wishing to come to the United States must demonstrate that they have been immunized for these diseases.

Of greater concern is the incidence of parasitic infections among refugees.

On this last point, I agree with author Leaf that the parasitic infections are not being given much attention. Indeed that young Congolese boy who died at O’Hare may well have died from an E-coli infection as a result of severe parasite destruction of his intestines. (Google the story because the autopsy has been released.)
Click here to read more.
One story I didn’t get to this week, is Michael Patrick Leahy’s latest on Tuberculosis (Ticking Time Bomb) in the immigrant/refugee community. Leahy has obviously made it his mission to put the spotlight on what Leaf describes as a legitimate (and under-reported) concern.
Warning! Not only should you be concerned for your personal health and your family members’ health who must come in contact with refugees newly arrived in America, but you should be concerned for your pocket books! Obamacare does not have money trees growing in Washington no matter what the Democrats might want you to believe!

Lucky Europe! Louseborne Relapsing Fever among East African Refugees, Italy, 2015

11/11/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That is the title of an article at the Centers for Disease Control which reminds us that it isn’t just the Islamic terrorists that Europe has to worry about, but diseases that had long been eradicated in advanced western countries. Lucky taxpayers too!

More ‘Invasion of Europe’ news……
From the CDC:

During June 9–September 30, 2015, five cases of louseborne relapsing fever were identified in Turin, Italy. All 5 cases were in young refugees from Somalia, 2 of whom had lived in Italy since 2011. Our report seems to confirm the possibility of local transmission of louse-borne relapsing fever.

Louseborne relapsing fever (LRF) was once widely distributed in all geographic areas, including Europe and North America, occurring in association with poverty and overcrowding. In Europe, it virtually disappeared after World War I in parallel with improved living conditions that led to substantially decreased body lice infestations in humans (1). Currently, LRF is reported mostly from Ethiopia and surrounding countries, where it is endemic (2): in this region, it is an extremely common infection with substantial mortality. The causative agent is the spirochete bacterium Borrelia recurrentis. In nature, the only relevant vector is the body louse, which feeds only on humans; no other reservoir for this infection is known (1,3). The incubation period is 3–12 days. We report 5 cases of LRF in refugees to Italy from East Africa that occurred during 2015.

[….]

Italy has recently received large numbers of refugees from East Africa, particularly from Somalia. These refugees come from and travel through countries where B. recurrentis is endemic; along the way, they are often sheltered in crowded conditions with very poor hygienic facilities. Two of the patients reported here indicated that, while staying in Libya, they were held with many other persons in a close environment, and all refugees housed together reported severe itching.

Many of these refugees enter Italy through Sicily, from where they are sent to reception centers throughout the country. Some of these reception centers have grown to substantial size and now house a more stable population, with continuous input of new arrivals. In these conditions, local transmission can occur with a possible risk for epidemics: 2 of the 5 patients reported here were long-term residents in Italy, and they denied recent travel to Africa, so they probably acquired the infection while being housed in the same facilities as the newly arrived refugees. Although it is possible that they denied recent travel for fear of legal consequences, they are unlikely to have had the opportunity to travel out of Europe for economic reasons.

More here.
For future reference this post is filed in our ‘Health issues’ category, here (285 previous posts), as well as in our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archives, here.

Centers for Disease Control activates emergency plan in response to “unaccompanied minors” invasion

07/03/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Hundreds of migrants on US border found with scabies. This story is from April. Imagine what it is now! http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=1038209#.U7VcfkCinC0

The latest story is at InfoWars yesterday (hat tip: Drudge):

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is responding to the public health crisis spurred by the recent surge of illegal immigrants by activating an emergency facility designed to monitor and coordinate “emergency response activities to public health threats,” the agency admitted to Infowars Tuesday.

In a taped phone call, a CDC information hotline representative confirmed that, unbeknownst to the American public, the agency has activated their intelligence arm, the Emergency Operation Center, to deal with various diseases accompanying the surge of illegal aliens currently staging a virtually uncontested U.S. invasion.

“In response to this influx of unaccompanied alien children, CDC’s Emergency Operation Center (EOC) has been activated,” the CDC rep stated, likely reading from a script. “Through this activation the EOC will work closely with the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. CDC staff will consult on health issues and the UAC’s countries of origin, consult on shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene and provide staff for public health support.”

Read it all. See the hundreds of comments too.

Thanks to everyone who sent us the story from earlier this week at The Blaze (medical staff threatened, told to keep silent about health crisis).

“When they found out the kids had scabies, the charge nurse was adamant — ‘Don’t mention that. Don’t say scabies,’” a nurse told Starnes. “But everybody knew they had scabies. Some of the workers were very concerned about touching things and picking things up. They asked if they should be concerned, but they were told don’t worry about it.

See our Health Issues category for a catalog of all the health (both mental and physical) problems (Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDs as well) refugees and other migrants bring to America. As we have often commented, forget terrorism or the social costs, it will be the threat of one’s children contracting some awful contagious disease that will wake up the generally tuned-out public to the immigration apocalypse we are now facing.

See all of our posts on ‘unaccompanied minors’ (mostly teenaged boys), here.

Got worms? Watch out for pork tapeworms in refugee populations arriving in US!

06/23/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know why this alert showed up in my inbox yesterday—it is from the CDC in 2012. But, what the heck, just for a little change of pace before we get back to more news about the “refugee” invasion on the southern border.

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cysticercosis/biology.html

From the CDC (and especially for anyone volunteering to care for newly arrived refugees):

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a disease caused by central nervous system infection by the larval stage of the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium. In developing countries, NCC is a leading cause of adult-onset epilepsy. Case reports of NCC are increasing among refugees resettled to the United States and other nations, but the underlying prevalence among refugee groups is unknown. We tested stored serum samples from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Migrant Serum Bank for antibodies against T. solium cysts by using the enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot.

Seroprevalence was high among all 4 populations tested: refugees from Burma (23.2%), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (18.3%), Bhutan (22.8%), and Burundi (25.8%). Clinicians caring for refugee populations should suspect NCC in patients with seizure, chronic headache, or unexplained neurologic manifestations. Improved understanding of the prevalence of epilepsy and other associated diseases among refugees could guide recommendations for their evaluation and treatment before, during, and after resettlement.

[….]

The widespread exposure among these groups has clinical and public health implications because these populations are resettling to the United States, where the infection is not endemic and where many clinical providers are not familiar with the disease manifestations, diagnosis, or treatment.

It is a good thing we have Obamacare to pay for all this medical treatment required by refugees carrying parasites!

See our Health Issues category for more stories like this one! Be sure to see: diseases coming in with the “children.”