Illegal Invaders Spreading TB in USA!

[Whitebear]

A Resurgence of Deadly Diseases (Excerpt)

A Resurgence of Deadly Diseases (Excerpt)

by R. Cort Kirkwood
November 27, 2006
Email this article
Printer friendly page
Diseases once thought to be nearly eradicated in America, such as tuberculosis and leprosy, are now rising as illegal immigrants bring their health problems to our country.Illegal immigrants not only drain American healthcare resources but also present a new threat: diseases once thought nearly erased from the American medical dictionary, as well as new ones never before seen, are emerging across the country. As the late Madeline Cosman demonstrated in the Journal of the American Physicians and Surgeonsin 2005, and other newspapers and health organizations have widely reported, illegal immigrants carry loathsome diseases for which American medicine is ill-prepared.

Time was, she wrote, referring to her immigrant grandfather, immigrants were tested for infectious diseases and then quarantined or shipped back to the old country. Anyone who has seen the second Godfather film remembers young Vito Corleone's arrival at Ellis Island. Diagnosed with smallpox, he landed in confinement. Or, like Cosman, many Americans know of the stories of grandparents and great-grandparents fresh off the boat from the old country. The authorities checked them for disease.

"Every legal immigrant before 1924 was examined for infectious diseases upon arrival and tested for tuberculosis," Cosman wrote. "Anyone infected was shipped back to the old country. That was powerful incentive for each newcomer to make heroic efforts to appear healthy. Today, immigrants must demonstrate that they are free of communicable diseases and drug addiction to qualify for lawful permanent residency green cards. Illegal aliens simply cross our borders medically unexamined, hiding in their bodies any number of communicable diseases...."

(to continue reading the complete article)

 

[Rasp]

Extend TB tests for foreign-born invaders

Extend TB tests for foreign-born invaders

Extend TB tests for foreign-born

NEW YORK, NY, United States (UPI) -- Researchers suggested Tuesday that all foreign-born people living in the United States be tested for latent tuberculosis infections if the United States is to be successful in eliminating the disease.

Currently, recommendations call for those foreign-born residents who have been in the United States for five years or less be targeted for tuberculin skin testing and treatment of latent TB infection.

However, researchers reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society, that the rate of tuberculosis continues to be far higher in foreign-born residents -- even those who have been in the country for more than five years -- than among native-born citizens.

'For example, in 2004, a total of 14,517 cases of tuberculosis was reported,' said Kevin Cain, an internal-medicine physician at the International Research and Programs Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. 'Of these cases, 3,444 or 24 percent were foreign-born persons who had entered the United States more than five years previously.'

Paradoxically, the need to expand testing comes at a time when budgets for tuberculosis prevention are being cut, David Cohn, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, told United Press International.

'This report indicates there is additional risk for patients who are foreign-born even after they have been living in the United States for more than five years,' Cohn said. 'The study results will be weighed before they are turned into recommendations, but for those doctors and communities who have resources, the evidence suggests it would be reasonable to extend testing to people who have lived here longer than five years.'

Cohn said that most foreign-born immigrants are tested for active tuberculosis upon entry into the country. Latent tuberculosis testing may be performed when these individuals visit a physician as part of routine testing, but there are many who fall through the cracks, including, of course, long-term undocumented aliens who may eventually become candidates for citizenship through amnesty programs.

In 2004 there were 14,517 cases of tuberculosis reported in the United States; about 2.6 percent occurred in native-born Americans, while about 22 percent occurred in foreign-born individuals, Cohn said.

Cain collected data on all 2004 tuberculosis cases listed in the National TB Surveillance database. He and colleagues were investigating why the number of annual cases reported in U.S.-born persons declined by 93 percent from 1993 to 2004, while foreign-born cases increased by 5 percent. Overall, the rate of tuberculosis cases in the United States is 4.9 per 100,000 people.

The following countries of origin of U.S. immigrant residents had the largest number of tuberculosis cases in 2004: Mexico (1,976), Philippines (829), Vietnam (619), India (557), China (352), Haiti (248), South Korea (219), Guatemala (190), Ethiopia (169) and Peru (159).

'Twenty-five percent of all reported tuberculosis cases in the United States are among foreign-born persons who have lived in the United States for more than five years,' said Cain. 'There is no policy to test foreign-born persons for latent tuberculosis infection before entering the United States, or to test them after they have lived here for more than five years. As such, present guidelines do not currently address the burden of latent tuberculosis infection in the foreign-born subgroup.'

The goal of tuberculosis control efforts in the United States is eliminating the disease -- or reducing the prevalence of the disease to less than one case reported per million in a given population. If achieved, the number of tuberculosis cases diagnosed in 2004 would have been less than 300.

'Until we address the burden of latent TB infection in the foreign-born group, achieving TB elimination will not be possible,' said Cain.

 

[Davy of old England]

Tuberculosis cases are rising

Britain eradicated TB way back in the 1930's but the muds are bringing it back again.

Cases of tuberculosis are increasing, official figures show.

Provisional data from the Health Protection Agency show a rise of 2% from 2005 to 2006 to 8,171 cases across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

London continues to account for the highest proportion of cases - 42% - but there has been a slight decrease in the actual number of cases there [nice doublespeak].

The figures are released to mark World TB Day on Saturday, which aims to raise awareness of the condition.

Dr John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPA, said: "Since the late 1980s the number of people diagnosed with TB has risen every year and, in line with this trend, 2006 shows a slight increase.

'Serious comeback'

"During 2005 we saw a large rise in the number of cases reported.


This Victorian disease is on the march says
Professor John Macfarlane, British Thoracic Society

"We therefore need to be cautious about predicting future trends based on 2006 figures alone.

"At this stage, it is too early to tell whether these provisional results for 2006 signify a slowing in the overall trend of increase in the number of cases."

Professor Peter Borriello, Director of Centre for Infections, said: "The fact that we are still seeing more new cases diagnosed each year means we need to continue heightened efforts with those most affected by TB."

And a British Thoracic Society survey of UK TB consultants found nine out of 10 thought cases would increase over the next decade.

Professor John Macfarlane, BTS chairman said: "This Victorian disease is on the march.

"Doctors up and down the country are warning us TB is in danger of staging a serious comeback."

Health minister Caroline Flint said: "We are not complacent about this, but we know there are no short-term solutions to tackling TB, and long-term concerted action will take time to take effect.

"Our TB Action Plan sets out our strategy in England. We believe that the best way to ensure a good TB service is through local commissioning, and together with the HPA we will be providing the NHS with a comprehensive set of resources to help them commission services, which meet their local circumstances."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6479537.stm

 

[vorlos]

TB or Not TB

http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2007/04/tb_or_not_tb.php

Jeneen Interlandi, Village Voice, April 3, 2007

For three weeks beginning in January, about 700 workers and patients at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, including 238 infants, were exposed to tuberculosis by an infected nurse.


On March 15, when almost two months had passed since the investigation began and 271 potential victims still remained at-large, the city’s Department of Health reached out to local media in an effort to track those patients down.

More than 100 have come forward since then, and seven people in total have tested positive for latent tuberculosis, which they developed after being exposed to the infectious nurse.

An emerging profile. According to a recent report by the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control, the majority of health care workers with infectious tuberculosis are foreign- born female nurses between the ages of 35 and 54 who work in a hospital setting and have previously tested positive for latent infection.

“TB in foreign-born health care workers is increasingly likely to come from reactivation of old infections,”��”�� Munsiff says, “acquired overseas, not in New York City.”��”��

During that time, after the unidentified, foreign-born woman had developed a cough, she continued to report for regular shifts in the maternity ward and the nursery at the facility.

 

[Davy of old England]

Re: Tuberculosis cases are rising

TB RISE IN CITY DOWN TO IMMIGRANTS

Update 05 April 2007 as experts confirm that immigrants spread deadly diseases.

An influx of immigrants is behind a "significant" rise in tuberculosis cases in Nottingham, say experts.

The number of cases in Notts has more than doubled in two years.

Hotspots for the infectious lung disease are Hyson Green, Forest Fields, Radford and The Meadows, according to the Health Protection Agency.

Two-thirds of patients are thought to be in the city centre, with others in outlying suburbs and Mansfield.

Latest figures show there were 118 cases of TB in Notts last year. In 2004 there were 53. Leicestershire had more, with 285 last year and 310 in 2005. In 2004, there were 198. Derbyshire had 80 cases last year, compared to 67 in 2005 and 81 in 2004.

Dr Richard Slack, the Health Protection Agency's consultant in communicable diseases, said the increase was due to people coming from regions with high instances of TB, such as Africa and parts of Asia.

But poor living conditions also play a part in spreading the disease, but Dr Slack warned people not to panic.

"The figures for 2002 to 2006 show an increase in Notts slightly greater than the national average," he said. "And if you compare the 2004 figure with last year's, there is a significant increase.

"The disease is largely seen in particular community groups, who come from countries with high instances of TB.

"There is no doubt this is a disease of overcrowding and to some extent poverty, even in the UK."

The agency is monitoring the situation closely.

Dr Slack said TB, which was common in the early part of the 20th Century, was still rare in Britain.

"The numbers are still pretty low," he said. "Not everybody getting on the 58 bus is going to catch it. It is also worth pointing out that not all cases are infectious - in some cases it is 'locked away' in parts of the body."

Dr Slack also said that the screening process for picking up new cases when someone moved to the UK had improved. And GPs are encouraged to send new patients who are at risk to be checked out at the chest clinic at the City Hospital.

About 8,000 new cases of TB are currently reported each year in the UK.

It can be spread by an airborne germ after a person who has TB of the lungs coughs or sneezes.

It usually takes several months for symptoms to appear and these include fever and night sweats; persistent cough; weight loss and blood in phlegm or spit.

Source: http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/d...tentPK=17034983&folderPk=78482&pNodeId=134462

 

[William of the White Hand]

Diversity strikes as student exposes others to TB

UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

12:36 p.m. April 12, 2007

SAN DIEGO – A community college student diagnosed with tuberculosis may have exposed as many as 200 students, teachers and staff in Linda Vista to the disease, county health officials announced Thursday.

The exposure took place in an English as a Second Language class between Jan 2. and March 23 at the Linda Vista Presbyterian Church Education Center on Ulric Street near Linda Vista Road, according to a spokeswoman for the county Health and Human Services Agency.

The student is in treatment. Testing is recommended for anyone who may have been exposed a total of 16 hours or more.

“We've actually been moving fast in the last two days to notify everybody, both by phone and by (registered) letter,”��”�� said Rich Dittbenner, a spokesman for the San Diego Community College District. “We're reaching out through all available means.”��”��

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070412-1236-bn12tb.html

 

[The Bobster]

Student Diagnosed With Tuberculosis

http://www.nbc10.com/news/13332950/detail.html

Student Diagnosed With Tuberculosis
Health Officials Say Disease Not Highly Contagious

POSTED: 4:01 pm EDT May 16, 2007
UPDATED: 5:12 pm EDT May 16, 2007

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- A Lehigh County high school student was diagnosed with an active case of tuberculosis Tuesday.

It’s the second case of the contagious disease in the Allentown School District this year.

The infected student attends Allen High School.

The student has been removed from the school and put on medication.

Health officials said they don't believe the unidentified teen was highly contagious, but 150 students and 28 others who had close contact with the infected student will be screened for exposure at the high school health center on Friday.

School and city health officials spent Wednesday educati
ng students at Allen High School about the signs and symptoms of tuberculosis.

Health officials said it was unclear how long the unidentified student has been infected, but said he or she was having vague, cough-like symptoms for weeks.

TB is a bacteria infection that’s spread through the air by coughing sneezing, even talking.

Allentown health director Vikki Kistler believed this was an isolated case because none of the infected student's family members tested positive for active TB.

Meanwhile, all of the other 3,600 students at Allen got letters informing them of the situation, which caused some concern even though the infected student was hospitalized and is not in school.

In January, a child at Central Elementary School tested positive for an active case of the disease.

Health officials do not believe the two are related.

 

[-88-]

US in TB flight infection warning

US health officials have quarantined a man who may have exposed passengers on board two trans-Atlantic flights to a dangerous form of tuberculosis.

Officials say crew and passengers on the same flights, from Atlanta to Paris and from Prague to Montreal this month, should be checked for the infection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified the illness as "extensively drug-resistant TB".

It is the first such federal quarantine order to be issued in over 44 years.

The last such order was issued in 1963, to quarantine a patient with smallpox, according to the CDC.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that usually attacks the lungs. It is spread through the air and can lead to symptoms such as chest pain and coughing up
blood.

There were an estimated 1.6 million deaths from TB in 2005, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

'At risk'

The infected man travelled from Atlanta to Paris on 12 May on Air France flight 385. He returned to the North America on CSA flight 104 from Prague to Montreal on 24 May.

He continued his journey in the US by car and is now under quarantine in hospital, according to the WHO.

CDC officials said the man was potentially infectious during this period and are recommending that crew members and passengers on board the same flights seek medical attention.

"We want to make sure that we have done everything we possibly can to identify people who could be at risk," said Dr Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC.

The "extensively drug-resistant" TB is more dangerous. Medical treatment can cost $500,000 (Ô�Å¡£250,000) or more, CDC officials say.

 

[TxTiger]

7 Test Positive For TB
Email This Story | Print This Story

Seven students at an Arlington high school tested positive for tuberculosis on Thursday.

The students were reportedly exposed to the disease by a student at Bowie High School. Tarrant County Health Department officials said the students will undergo antibiotic treatment for nine months and have a 1 percent chance of actually coming down with the disease.

So far, 175 students have been screened and some parents said they are concerned about how the issue is being handled.

“I would like the school to test every single one of the kids,"� mother Whitney Engel said.

Engel’s son Chris attends the school and wants to be tested just to be safe.

“If I do have it, I want to know,"� he said. “That way I’m not spreading it."�

Engel said Health Department officials refused to test her son because they said he had no direct contact with the student in question. The officials said they will test any student whose parents insist, but that it’s not necessary unless there was direct contact.

“If you were in a different class, weren’t in the same room, never had exposure to that student then you don’t need to be tested,"� Health Department’s Dr. Elvin Adams said.

Adams also said this strain of tuberculosis is not as severe as the drug-resistant strain that people might have seen on television.

“The TB in this high school is entirely different than the extreme TB that’s been in the news so much,"� he said.

Adams said he expects the student diagnosed with tuberculosis to make a full recovery.

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/13429263/detail.html?dl=headlineclick

 

[Rasp]

Spic bus driver infects bus full of students with TB

Spic bus driver infects bus full of students with TB

People exposed to sick driver awarded $5.25 million

ALICE, Texas (AP) - A bus company in Texas must pay $5.25 million to six school band members and a chaperone who contracted tuberculosis from the driver.

The jury in Alice earlier returned a guilty verdict on one count each of negligence against Garcia Holiday Tours and the driver, 58-year-old Raul Garcia.

Raul Garcia is not related to the owners of the company.

Calls to the tour company and its defense attorney were not immediately returned today.

Alice High School contracted Garcia Holiday Tours to take the band to San Antonio for its year-end trip in the spring of 2004.

Witnesses say the driver coughed uncontrollably during the trip. He was diagnosed with active tuberculosis nine days later.

The plaintiffs all came down with latent tuberculosis, which is non-communicable but can afflict victims throughout life without warning.

 

[TxTiger]

Texas High School Band Members Win $5.25 Million In TB Lawsuit

(September 20, 2007)--A bus company in Texas must pay $5.25 million to six school band members and a chaperone who contracted tuberculosis from the driver.

The jury in Alice earlier returned a guilty verdict on one count each of negligence against Garcia Holiday Tours and the driver, 58-year-old Raul Garcia.

Raul Garcia is not related to the owners of the company.

Calls to the tour company and its defense attorney were not immediately returned Thursday.

Alice High School contracted Garcia Holiday Tours to take the band to San Antonio for its year-end trip in the spring of 2004.

Witnesses say the driver coughed uncontrollably during the trip.

He was diagnosed with active tuberculosis nine days later.

The plaintiffs all came down with latent tuberculosis, which is non-communicable but can afflict victims throughout life without warning.

http://www.kwtx.com/news/headlines/9906486.html

 

[soverein]

Our government has betrayed us. We are no longer protected from other countries, who invade our lands armed with virulent diseases, or invade our skies by hyjacking airplanes; and our president wants to commute death sentances of illegal Mexican aliens who have raped and brutally murdered our young girls.

 

[soverein]

Re: Spic bus driver infects bus full of students with TB

How many more Americans are going to be infected before our government gets a clue? I hope the greaser bus company went broke!

 

[soverein]

Re: beanager jailed for TB denied having disease, officials say

"Worst of all", he was threatening to take his disease to Mexico???? What's worst of all is that he friggin' brought it here. Take it back, for crying out loud!

 

[TxTiger]

TB test results in at Pilgrim's Pride

Updated: Nov 9, 2007 07:15 PM CST

TB test results are in for workers at the Pilgrim's Pride plant in Russellville.

201 tuberculosis tests were given to workers earlier this week.

50 workers came back with positive TB skin tests.

The state health department is in the process of conducting chest x-rays on those who tested positive.

Those Pilgrim's Pride employees will continue to work pending the results of their chest x-rays early next week.

Health officers say there's no health threat to the general public.

http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=7339488&nav=menu62_1_3

 

[The Bobster]

http://www.nbc10.com/health/14639245/detail.html

Poultry Plant Employee Tests Positive For TB

POSTED: 12:31 pm EST November 19, 2007
UPDATED: 12:50 pm EST November 19, 2007

SELBYVILLE, Del. -- State health officials confirmed that a Delaware poultry plant worker was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

The woman, who works at Mountaire Farms, began showing signs of TB last week and was tested Friday, according to officials.

The positive test results led to the test of about 250 other employees, with results expected later this week.

Another employee at the Selbyville processing tested positive for TB earlier in the year.

The disease isn't transferred from chickens and can't be transferred to them.

 

[soverein]

Re: beanager jailed for TB denied having disease, officials say

What form of brain working is responsible for keeping this imbecile in our country? Sending him to a foreign country is totally appropriate if we send him to where he got the disease - 3rd world toilet Mexico.

 

[The Bobster]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080101/ap_on_he_me/tuberculosis_infection

CDC seeks 44 on flight with TB patient

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - Health officials were searching Monday for dozens of airline passengers who may have come in contact with a 30-year-old woman infected with a hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis on a flight from India.

The 30-year-old woman, who authorities declined to identify, was being treated at a Bay Area hospital. Officials said the chances that she had infected anyone else were minimal.

The woman arrived in San Francisco on Dec. 13 aboard an American Airlines flight that she boarded in New Delhi. The flight stopped in Chicago before continuing to San Francisco International.

"She did have symptoms on the flight," said Santa Clara County Health Director Dr. Marty Fenstersheib. "She was coughing."

Health officials said she was diagnosed with TB in India, but boarded the flight anyway. Such passengers are typically barred from boarding flights originating in the United States, but U.S. officials have little authority over who boards incoming international flights.

About a week after the flight landed, the woman showed up at the Stanford Hospital emergency room with advanced symptoms of the disease. Hospital spokesman Gary Migdol said the woman is in isolation and is in stable condition.

The woman will remain hospitalized until she tests negative for the disease, which will take at least two weeks, Fenstersheib said. Her stay could last longer because she has a strain of the disease that resists the most common antibiotics, he said.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are asking health authorities in 17 states to contact 44 people who sat within two rows of the woman and urge them get checked for tuberculosis. The risk of infection is far lower than passing on influenza or the common cold, doctors said.

"TB requires pretty constant contact with someone," Fenstersheib said. About 1 percent to 2 percent of all tuberculosis cases are of the multi-drug resistant variety, he said.

CDC spokeswoman Shelly Diaz said the agency has not received any reports back. Diaz said it will take more than eight weeks to receive definitive results.

In May, a TB patient caused an international health scare when he flew to Europe for his wedding. There has been no evidence that the man spread the disease.

 

[sniffy]

Just about anybody with TB can come to the U.S. Here is the University policy.


http://www.uhs.umich.edu/tbscreen/

Will TB test results affect my visa or student status?


Having TB will NOT affect your visa or student status. Students who have TB infection are not discriminated against in any way. UHS must report cases of active TB (not inactive TB) to county health departments for investigation of possible transmission of others. Otherwise, health records at UHS are confidential and cannot be released without patient consent. Your TB test result will not appear on your academic documents

 

[Rasp]

A fragrant bouquet of other diseases are also available at UMich, take your pick:

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN - ANN ARBOR

STUDENT BODY CHARACTERISTICS

Total student body comes from:

Number of States 50
Number of Foreign Countries 113

Undergraduates come from:

Number of States 50
Number of Foreign Countries 82