Ready for another pandemic? New York City’s health commissioner announced last week that the influx of migrants from the southern border – more than 50,000 to New York City alone in the past year – is delivering contagious diseases, including tuberculosis and polio, to our neighborhoods.
The same disease threats are also endangering other migrant destinations, including California, Texas and Florida.
In a letter to physicians and health care administrators citywide, Commissioner Ashwan Vasan explained that “many people who recently arrived in NYC have lived in or traveled through countries with high rates of TB.”
TB, short for tuberculosis, is a bacterial infection. It is treatable with antibiotics, but it generally takes six to nine months of medication to recover. Not a walk in the park.
TB spreads through the air, like flu or a cold. Stand next to someone with TB for a long subway ride or sit next to them every day at school and you can catch it.
New York City’s TB rate, at 6.1 cases per 100,000, is more than double the national rate. Close to 9 out of 10 (88%) of these TB cases are people born outside the United States. Every neighborhood in the city has had at least one case.
Vasan’s letter called on New York to pull out all the stops providing health care, food and legal services to migrants. Not a word about protecting the people who already live here.
Open borders import disease. Immigrants who lawfully apply for a visa must undergo health screenings and show they are vaccinated, and refugees are screened for TB before entering the U.S. Not so for those wading across the Rio Grande.
Nationwide, 6,009 of the 8,300 people with TB in 2022 were foreign-born, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Florida was slammed with a 21% increase in TB since 2020.
Texas border counties have a TB rate triple the national average.
At least TB is treatable. Polio, on the other hand, can paralyze you for life.
Time will tell how big a threat the return of polio is. In the 1940s and early 1950s, thousands of Americans were permanently paralyzed by it, but vaccines ended that nightmare.
New York’s last confirmed case was in 1990. That is until last summer, when an unvaccinated Rockland County man became paralyzed by polio. His disease likely originated in another country.
Vasan warns that only 50% of the migrants streaming into the Big Apple are vaccinated. But an even bigger issue is the type of vaccine used in many poorer countries, which can actually spread polio.
The U.S. uses only injectable polio vaccines made with dead virus that cannot spread the disease. But many other countries use a less safe oral vaccine that contains live virus and is sometimes shed in the vaccinated person’s feces. It can then spread in sewage or on unclean hands, causing vaccine-derived cases of polio. That’s a problem in 25 countries.
The polio found in New York sewage matches the strains of polio caused by oral vaccines. And health authorities have matched the Rockland County man’s polio to these strains.
The Rockland County man had not traveled outside the U.S., but he attended a gathering where he picked up the disease several days before his symptoms appeared.
He may have shook hands or touched contaminated water and was exposed to the virus.
Most unsettling, Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, Rockland County health commissioner, cautions that “when we see one case of paralytic polio, that means there are probably hundreds and hundreds of cases that are out there in the community but not diagnosed, because 75% of the cases are asymptomatic.”
Looking at the presence of polio in wastewater in most parts of the state, Health Commissioner Mary Bassett warns that “the danger of polio is present in New York today.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul temporarily declared a state of emergency. But Democratic politicians won’t talk about why this emergency threat to our health is happening. You can thank the Biden administration’s open border policies.
Tell Democrats in Washington that one pandemic was enough.
Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey.
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LETS HAVE A AMEN IF GEORGE SOROS KIDS GET POLIO, OR EBOLA OR TB, that would be Gods justice to the biggest criminal on the world stage !!
Biden should be impeached & hung for treason. However we all know the goal of the democrats is to completely destroy the country, and import illegal voters. Look at how successful they are so far.
Do you think that the demented POTUS really cares what or how many are coming here illegally? We owe border breakers not one thing except a bottle of water and a ticket back to their home countries!
I bet we will not see any leftist cult people on this comment section.
Biden administration / democrats trying to kill Americans in yet another way.
Of course there will be more disease. TB and polio are only a few. STDs, hepatitis, ebola and more. Biden doesn’t care about us citizens. Now he wants to give out our Social Security and welfare. He doesn’t mention assimilation or to our culture or mandatory learning English. He wants a one world order to control what we eat, drink, how much we spend and what we purchase. The Biden administration has destroyed our country.
First off your comment is bigoted. so your opinion of anything is unimportant.
Second child labor laws are far more robust then the lefts child sex laws in California were it is legal to have sex with 14 year old children and decriminalized to have sex with children under 14. yup democrats / leftists like you are exactly what Chester the molester was about. come here little girl I have candy.
Leftists like you who think you have anything of moral value are hilarious. You are all perverts.
what’s the point of even bringing this up – biden doesn’t give a crap about us, the media doesn’t care about us and the stupid voters who vote for this nonsense don’t care about this country! i just don’t get it -talk about mental instability
The Japanese were reluctant to invade the west coast in WWII because of the arms civilians had.
As every good comment has stated below, THANK YOU PRES BIDEN for your idiotic policies that continue to destroy this nation.
Unbelievable. I have been saying this since day one and was downvoted and trash talked…interesting…
When all these people come into this country from all over the world we can expect that they will carry different disease that we do not have here. If any one thinks that it is not possible they are kidding themselves because it is possible to have out-breaks here thanks to the Dems open borders policies that is what will happen here Biden and Harris are in LaLa Land if they say it is not going to happen here watch and see.
Biden is merely putting some US citizens in harms way in order to build a draft of illegals to provide bodies to cover recent cemetery names to vote for DemocRats in future elections. We need legislation to drastically improve the insurance of legitimate voting.
Close the borders and send all illegals now here to Biden’s house. Let the demonRats enjoy all the crap they bring in..
YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET. ONLY TO GET MUCH WORSE. YOU WILL EXPERIENCE MUCH LONGER WAIT TIMES TO SEE YOUR DR. AND MUCH LONGER WAIT TIMES IN THE ER. NOT TO MENTION A DRASTIC INCREASE IN MURDERS, RAPES, DRUGS, MAIMING AND THEFT, ALL DUE TO THE CANCEROUS, ANTI-AMERICAN, LYING, CHEATING, libs AND HEAD POS IN THE WHITE HOUSE who BREAKS his OATH OF OFFICE AND THE CONSTITUTION EVERY DAY THAT POS IS ALIVE FOR NOT ENFORCING OUR BORDERS. DEPORT ALL liberals, illegals AND THE ONCE HONORABLE, fbi, STAT, TO MAGA
Not a new concern for Americans. Check-in at the border for legal entry would include screen for disease. No sensible leader would just open the gates.
Another failure to perform it’s most important job, protecting the citizens of the United States.
Anyone with any sense at all should know by now that the American people take a back seat to the Biden and dem’s agendas. They will not allow anyone or anything to hinder the progress of their plans. Die and get out of the way so the democrat party can rule with complete control.
Typical of the Democrats and the current administration to ignore the dangers involved in the open border policy, they endorse
Don’t we have shots for all those … my children HAD TO get shots when they were babies
Seems we need to get rid of this administration then our country will get well.
Also the POS in the White House is giving money for clean air Why ? When he’s polluting the air with open boarder
That stupid sob and his family need to get some of the diseases being brought in. He has his head so far up the left’s ass it is ridiculous. Our entire congress and administration isn’t far behind.
Thank the whole Democratic Party. This is driven by a sick ideology. They are all guilty by omission if nothing else.
This whole administration is guilty of treason and doesn’t give a rats ass about the American people, it seems they are more worried about killing us off then anything, and lineing their pockets . With all the fentinal that is out there and now the disease on top of that the Biden administration should be in prison for all the deaths they have caused in the past 3 years that also includes the riots as well that continue to plage our streets.
Your straightforward, right to the point, explanation of this public health matter is commendable, and appreciated Betsy. Along with identification of the factors that cause disease, recognizing the responsible manner of dealing with a public health threat makes for the right epidemiological approach to do what is necessary to protect the health of the public. Legal epidemiology is a very important field and this article indicates how vital it is to have truth an essential part of a public health plan. Well Done !
Biden has been escaping with his “Open Borders” policy since STEALING the White House! He’s just stocking the woodshed with vermin like himself and his entire family! America First under President Trump has now become America Last under Biden!
Unfortunately, much of the tuberculosis coming into our nation is ‘ antibiotic resistant’. Dr. Arthur Dannenberg, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, wrote on this research decades ago. If you contract that TB, there is NO treatment. Maybe, our public health bureaucracy should be paying attention to that! Ellis Island legal immigrants were medically screened and turned back for certain diseases. Our government officials are not looking out for the American citizen.
Telling the Democrats that one pandemic was enough, falls on deaf ears. They WANT another pandemic, this time a real one, not like the FAKE Covid “plandemic”!
They’ll just blame another pandemic on a “Tijuana wet market”… or climate change. Whatever set of jingling keys works! Stand by to “flatten the curve” in November 2024!
I live in AZ. and the number of illegal crossings is phenomenal ! The cases of legal entries is probably down, because why would you spend $ thousands of dollars to come legally, and one of the first request for legally entre is a total physical at your own cost, including for TB, Polio and Hepatitis! The first step is a green card, and then every step after that gets more costly, and you may never qualify if you’re infected. One thing, being ignored is that the border cities can no longer support its citizens. Example: Yuma has been overrun by illegals in the hospitals, and clinics, and citizens now have to travel to Pheonix, or farther to get medical services. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ARE ALL TRAITORS, AND SHOULD BE PROCESUTED FOR TREASON !
There is nothing new here This is the only possible outcome Where are the experts that would not shut up when it came to tormenting everyone with their expertise Disastrous decisions end up in disaster
yet we still have moronic leftists who think they can blame the conservatives or trump for the disaster that is america today.
I have been saying this since 1-20-21, and for past 55 years.
How many viruses and diseases has the ILLEGAL ALIEN TERRORIST INVASION brought in and spread across the country since Beijing biden flew them all over the country (at tax payers expense) not wearing masks or vaccinated since they didn’t abide by the mandates that the Fascist liberals FORCED Illegally and Unconstitutionally on American citizens?
How many Americans have gotten sick or died because of Beijing biden’s Open Borders?
How many Americans have been attacked and/or killed by Beijing biden’s ILLEGAL ALIEN TERRORIST INVASION by INCREASING CRIME?
How much of OUR medical supplies have been wasted on ILLEGAL ALIENS?
How many jobs have been taken away from Americans?
How many American children have been deprived including in school because of the ILLEGAL ALIEN TERRORIST INVASION?
Why all of sudden as soon as millions of Americans are being taken off Medicaid that Beijing biden is putting millions of ILLEGAL ALIENS on Medicaid?
Each ILLEGAL ALIEN that Beijing biden has let in is an act of espionage and treason. Punishable by 10 years (Felony) in prison for each ILLEGAL ALIEN let cross the border illegally. This doesn’t include the penalty for treason by giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
So ask yourself this.
Why should your health and safety be put in DANGER by ILLEGAL ALIEN TERRORIST INVASION all compliments of Beijing biden so he can have them vote ILLEGALLY in the 2024 Presidential election?
This is all because of Biden’s administration.
As an illiterate, you belong on the AARP site. While on the way, chew some bugs like your idiotic leaders want!
Selfishly, as someone with an organ transplant any of the diseases the aliens bring with them… TB, Polio, Whopping Cough, etc. has the potential of killing me. And, I have paid taxes all my life. So, instead of using taxpayer money to serve taxpayers, we’re using it for the illegals who do not belong here in the first place.
America is becoming more and more like a socialist or communist country in the fact that the elite live protected and virtually unscathed, while the “peasants” live in the mess of crime and disease and violence. This is what socialism and communism bring. These so-called “elite” that have brought this to us all, don’t care about the people, only power and money. Well, the peasants that have been in favor of this had better be careful, because if it ever really comes to fruition, their freedom of speech and right to assemble will be gone, as the true impact of socialism/communism will remove all their rights “for safety” and they will be beaten and imprisoned for daring to speak against the government. They had better be careful what they wish for, they just may get it.
Biden and his goons are purposely allowing serious diseases to spread just to satisfy their small brained need to fundamentally change America. They would rather have a more diverse country at the expense of less good health and happiness for American citizens. American citizens are treated as second rate, while the illegals are foolishly rewarded for their misconduct. The illegals are leaving their own countries for greater opportunities at the expense of the American people. For Biden and his cohorts to sacrifice the wellness of our citizens to improve the lives of illegals is both unethical and unconstitutional. How many of these egomaniac politicians are sacrificing themselves for the benefit of undocumented intruders? I feel very confident in saying — almost none. Where do these spoiled, self-centered miscreants get off?
Finally, someone has mentioned the word “wastewater” in an article. While not even a topic to speak about while fishing, the following technical info is critical. There are various domestic wastewater industry standards relative to estimating volumes of domestic wastewater per a given population. So, with all the millions of illegal people flooding into the country, they all consume water somehow. Can our nation’s wastewater treatment facilities handle all these extra people? Under certain circumstances now, it may not be a problem, but certainly will be crucial if nothing is planned for in the immediate future. I invite all to do a little research on this topic. Just search “calculating gallons of domestic wastewater” Very easy to understand and you’ll be astounded by the results. Many municipalities have had lots of trouble simply dealing with only discarded virus masks that have gotten into the domestic wastewater systems. Now deal with all the millions of extra gallons of domestic wastewater produced by all the additional people in the US. Someone should create a technical equation as to how much disease will increase as a result of these extra millions of gallons.
Wow, who would have thought, certainly not anyone in the biden administration. This is why people should only be coming into our country legally and properly vetted! IMO
Of course Brandon won’t say anything. Then he has to admit there is chaos at the border.
He has no idea what all this open border and his calling from come on in has done to America.
Drugs, homelessness, criminality, deaths and disease is spreading thru America every day. No one knows where those 5-6 million people have gone that have come in since January 21-2121.
He is not going to warn us about this TB and polio problem in either for he is still looking for a way to blame this on Trump.
Biden and Mayorkas allow millions of sick disease carrying illegal immigrants to cross our unprotected borders and the give them FREE EVERYTHING. Seems like Biden and Mayorkas have made America a Socialist Country through their feckless border policies. VOTE FOR EVERY REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN THAT CARES ABOUT YOUR FREEDOM, SECURITY, HEALTH AND THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA!
Illegal aliens should be cut off from everything that America has to offer. No money, education or government programs. My wife has come here legally and it has cost us a small fortune. We had to sign applications that I would pay for her and that she would not apply for any type of benefits that citizens might apply for. We are destroying our country when we vote into office criminal communists. FJB!
Ellis Island, an immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey, they were inspected for contagious diseases that could spread to the population at large. That is now not important enough for the Biden Administration to care about! All they want is to destroy America the quickest way possible. God help us if the Dem’s stay in power much longer, we will not have a free country, one that is safe to be in and one that we want to protect.
If you think dem robots will question their programming because of a little polio and tb you’re dreaming. The view and the rest of the poison media will either obfuscate or blame trump. The reaction will be as it was when bedbugs became a big deal twenty yrs ago after having been eradicated here seventy yrs ago. The news ignored the fact that the arrival of bedbugs coincided with mass migrations of folks doing work our welfare trash refused. Many of these folks are fine people who work extremely hard, but the fact is they come from filthy countries where sanitation is rudimentary. Dem robots would be shocked to witness the millieu these people come out of.
So it takes the New York health commissioner to point out the problem with “migrants” who don’t go through health screening when entering the U.S.? Illegal immigration has always brought the issue of importing diseases with them, just at a smaller level. With the current flood of people coming from all over the world, even diseases wiped out in the U.S. decades ago are returning, not to mention diseases “new” to our country. This alone should be reason enough to totally shut down our borders and search out and deport millions of illegals.
The unknown or ignorance is one thing but an administration of stupidity is completely different.
This is nothing new in CA. : (
Expect this to only get worse when Title 42 ends in May.
Ya’ think? Do we really need an article to inform us of this? Anyway, us tax payers will foot the bill for anything the illegals bring in. What a country!
The open borders are a total disgrace.
There are imbedded parasites/fleas from Brazil and Mexico which have traumatized two families I know of currently. After massive house cleaning an ultra violet light shows home overtaken with them.