Another TB shocker from Breitbart: over 200 active TB cases in Arizona began as latent TB

05/23/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Over and over again we are told that we have nothing to fear from the high percentage of refugees who enter the US infected with latent Tuberculosis, however, all too often latent becomes active as Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart tells us in the latest installment of his investigation of TB and other diseases refugees are permitted to bring with them to their new homes (in your towns).
Leahy at Breitbart today (emphasis is mine):

The high rate of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among refugees is a public health issue, Arizona state officials say.

“Most [of the] 222 cases of active tuberculosis infection (TB) …reported among Arizona’s refugee populations…[in] the past two decades …were caused by latent tuberculosis infections that became active after years or even decades of lying dormant,” according to the state’s Department of Health.

Eighteen percent “of all refugees resettled in Arizona arrive with a latent TB infection,” the 2014 Arizona Refugee Health Report states.

“For this reason,” the report adds, “it is important that those people discovered to have a latent TB infection complete an entire course of medication.” [You, American taxpayers are footing the bill!—ed]

The rate of LTBI among the general population is only 4 percent.

Active TB is infectious, while latent TB is not. Some 10 percent of those infected with latent TB develop active TB.

[….]

The high rate of LTBI among refugees, the significant percentage of arriving refugees who are not even screened for LTBI upon arrival, and very low rate at which refugees who test positive for LTBI complete successful treatment for it, are all reasons for the CDC to tighten its tuberculosis screening standards, as a December 2015 study by seven current and former CDC public health experts recommended….

Haven’t we been told they are already screened overseas first? What is up with this? So they could be wandering around your neighborhoods for weeks without having been health screened?

The political leadership at the CDC, however, shows no indication it intends to change the policy to screen all refugees for LTBI overseas, despite the higher health risks posed by its current tuberculosis screening protocols.

Continue reading here, this is a huge story!
See our health issues category for the previous stories in Leahy’s investigation.

Four cases of active TB reported in refugees in Indiana!

05/22/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

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.

More on Tuberculosis in the US refugee population, government is keeping info. secret

05/22/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update: Four cases of active TB reported in refugees in Indiana, here.
I was about to quit posting for the day and try to answer some e-mails when I spotted yet another story about TB on the rise in America and it is pretty clear that the rise is a result of the increase in the immigrant population.

Tuberculosis2-worldmap4 — In 2013 there were 100 multi-drug resistant cases of TB in the US. How many today? 80% of those were people who were born elsewhere. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tuberculosis-mdr-tb-treatment_us_56211f2be4b06462a13bc8fd

We have reported on the work of reporter Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart on the subject (here and here), and now here is a story at World Net Daily by Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vilet you should read. She says:

Yet there is another serious threat [in addition to terrorism—ed] to Americans not being adequately disclosed to the public by government agencies and most media outlets: the invisible invaders traveling with humans that carry bacterial, viral and fungal diseases rare or eradicated in the United States.

[….]

In 2014 I wrote three separate nationally released articles on the risks of these disease issues to alert Americans of the new threats. That same year, the Centers for Disease Control warned its own workers to expect a rise in tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in the refugees and detention centers for illegals.

But CDC, charged with protecting Americans from spread of serious disease, did not make this information public. Thus, the American public was unaware of the disease danger lurking in their communities and schools.

Continue reading here.

They will always tell you when you are over the target!

This growing story, about health risks involved with refugees permitted entry to the US even when they carry diseases or parasites, scares the you-know-what out of the leaders of the refugee industry.
In just a couple of hours (local time), there will be a protest of a TV station in Fargo, ND by refugees and their advocates claiming the station and one reporter are stoking “fears about refugees by unfairly labeling them a public health risk.”
They want the TV station to apologize.
The story, here, quotes a medical professional assuring readers that all refugees are screened for TB before entering the US! LOL! they may be screened, but they aren’t rejected if they are positive!
We have written often over the years about the risks and costs of refugees with TB and other diseases (and mental health problems) admitted to the US. Visit our health issues category here for much much more.

Is Tuberculosis a ticking time bomb in refugee/migrant flow to America?

05/21/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

While we fixate on a terrorism threat coming from not thoroughly vetted refugees, could there be a more likely security and safety risk with the myriad diseases permitted entry into the US in the refugee population (and in the stream of Unaccompanied Alien Children)?
In fact, when I first began writing RRW, it was a shock to learn that the Allen County (Indiana) health department was being overwhelmed by the number of TB cases among the newly resettled Burmese refugees. Treating them was breaking the health department’s budget.
New “welcoming” communities (Reno***, Rutland, Missoula, Ithaca?) have you considered the cost and the health risks to your citizens?

TBgrainsackpg3_000 — Part of a PR campaign in Africa to try to educate people about TB. Your tax dollars go to programs like this in foreign countries. But, how about America? http://numat.jsi.com/ProgramAreas/tuberculosis.htm

Be sure to see the Minneapolis Star Tribune of only a week ago where we learn that after 20 years of decline, the US TB rate is moving upward. Reporters begin their story with a Spanish teacher in Vermont who learns she has TB!
So, what has changed in 20 years? Could it be the massive flow of migrants from TB hotspots around the world into America?
Reporter Michael Patrick Leahy has been reporting at Breitbart about Tuberculosis over the last week. Here is his story from yesterday. And, don’t miss the earlier one about the high levels of latent TB in the Somali population in Minnesota, here.
Leahy yesterday:

Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, is criticizing the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for allowing refugees to enter the United States without screening and treatment for latent tuberculosis.

Seven of the agency’s own public health experts said such screening and treatment “would potentially save millions of dollars and contribute to United States TB elimination goals” in a research article published in December.

“Admitting people who might cause an epidemic makes no sense whatsoever from a public health standpoint,” Orient tells Breitbart News.

“It suggests that those who favor it do not care about the cost in suffering, death, and expense to Americans,” Orient says, adding she agrees with the public health experts currently or formerly employed at the CDC who concluded that screening of refugees for latent tuberculosis and successful treatment of those who test positive for the disease prior to their entry into the country is the proper public health policy for the United States.

But the political leadership at CDC does not appear to be following the screening and treatment recommendations of the study done by its own experts, and has not yet responded to inquiries from Breitbart News whether it plans to change course.

“If for humanitarian reasons we wish to help people fleeing persecution, there is still no need to release them into the general population of susceptible individuals. Officials who place politics above the health of Americans need to be held accountable and removed from positions of authority,” Orient says.

Be sure to watch the video linked in this next paragraph and consider the FACT that you, the US taxpayers, are paying for this expensive treatment for Drug Resistant TB, so that these people can move to your towns!

Even those refugees treated for active Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, as shown in this video of Burmese refugees who have the disease being treated in a refugee camp in Thailand, are allowed to enter the United States despite recent studies that indicate that between 4 percent and 5 percent of those deemed successfully treated experience a recurrence of tuberculosis within 2 years.

There is much more, continue reading here.
See our extensive ‘health issues’ category with 292 previous posts by clicking here.
*** In that Abstract we discussed a week ago for the new resettlement site in Reno, the Abstract indicates that the wait time for health screening of refugees arriving there will be 15-30 days. I doubt that refugees are quarantined during the wait time!

Tuesday is world TB Day: most cases in US arise in refugee and immigrant communities

03/22/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is an article from Washington state where they say their TB rate has dropped slightly in the last year.

From the Bonney Lake Courier Herald:

Washington has had a slight decline in tuberculosis (TB) cases in 2014 but state and local public health officials are still on high alert when it comes to this disease. TB is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest infectious killer worldwide.

[….]

“Tuberculosis remains a disease of concern internationally and in Washington,” State Communicable Disease Epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist said. “TB can be diagnosed, treated, and cured, yet it takes real commitment and effort to effectively deal with this disease.”

[….]

Drug-resistant TB continues to be a serious public health threat in Washington. This variation requires longer treatment periods with drugs that are more expensive. In 2014, 20 cases reported to the state health department were resistant to one or more drugs currently used as a first line of treatment for TB; two were multi-drug resistant. Infection control procedures must be in place in hospitals or health care settings to prevent exposure to this disease and keep it from spreading.

TB rates are often higher among racial and ethnic groups. In 2014, 72.5 percent of cases in the state were in people born outside the U.S. or its territories. In 2014, 43.5 percent of all cases in Washington were among Asians, followed by Hispanics (15.5 percent), blacks (15.5 percent), and whites (11.9 percent). Between 2012 and 2014 the greatest risk of TB in Washington was among Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander communities (27.7 cases per 100,000).

27 students and teachers have tested positive for TB in one Kansas City, MO high school. No word on who Patient Zero might be, see the story here.

See our health issues category, here, for more on refugee physical and mental health problems.