Legal Insurrection readers may recall that before the COVID-19 pandemic, I reported on the typhus outbreaks in the Los Angeles area. The root cause of those outbreaks was the exploding rat population associated with homeless encampments. It is spread through the bite of fleas that live on rats and mice.
A Los Angeles police station had to decontaminate its offices due to the infestations in their surrounding area.
Now, a Chicago police station on the city’s Northwest Side was closed for a deep cleaning after a case of scabies was reported at the station.
The Chicago Department of Public Health confirmed that a single case of scabies was reported at the 16th District police station in the city’s Jefferson Park neighborhood.City officials said the affected individual in question has received treatment, and the building was temporarily closed for deep cleaning before a scheduled reopening at 8 p.m. Tuesday evening.Asylum-seeking migrants who were housed at the 16th District police station have been relocated to other shelters, though it is unclear if they will be moved back following the station’s reopening.
As scabies have not been a significant health problem in most areas of the country for many years, it’s probably worth reviewing the symptoms and treatments associated with this condition.
Human scabies are caused by an infestation of a microscopic insect called the human itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis). The microscopic scabies mite digs its way into the upper layer of the skin where it lives its mite life and lays its eggs, generating even more biters.
The most common symptoms of scabies are intense itching and a pimple-like skin rash. The scabies mite is usually spread by direct, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with someone with scabies.
It’s worthwhile noting that scabies can spread rapidly under crowded conditions where close body contact is frequent. Institutions such as nursing homes and prisons are often sites of scabies outbreaks and illegal immigrant shelters cropping up across the country.
This is especially disturbing news, as Chicago has decided to use its very busy O’Hare airport for a migrant shelter.
Hidden behind a heavy black curtain in one of the nation’s busiest airports is Chicago’s unsettling response to a growing population of asylum-seekers arriving by plane.Hundreds of migrants, from babies to the elderly, live inside a shuttle bus center at O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal. They sleep on cardboard pads on the floor and share airport bathrooms. A private firm monitors their movements.Like New York and other cities, Chicago has struggled to house asylum-seekers, slowly moving people out of temporary spaces and into shelters and, in the near future, tents. But Chicago’s use of airports is unusual, having been rejected elsewhere, and highlights the city’s haphazard response to the crisis. The practice also has raised concerns about safety and the treatment of people fleeing violence and poverty.”It was supposed to be a stop-and-go place,” said Vianney Marzullo, one of the few volunteers at O’Hare. “It’s very concerning. It is not just a safety matter, but a public health matter.”
Fortunately, prescription medications are available for scabies, including Permethrin cream, Crotamiton lotion….and Ivermectin!
A detailed review of the extent of scabies worldwide was just published in The Lancet. Interestingly, the focus of the piece was showing that this is a tropical disease that is now all over the world.
Community transmission of scabies mostly happens in impoverished settings. It is tricky to say how many people are affected by the disease. The best estimates suggest around 200 million people at any one time, and 455 million people per year, which makes scabies one of the highest-burden neglected tropical diseases….Scabies and other ectoparasites were added to the WHO list of neglected tropical diseases in 2017. That was too late for the 2012–20 neglected tropical diseases road map, but the infections feature in the 2021–30 road map.
It appears that scabies, like COVID-19, is here to stay. Let’s hope the “experts” will still let us use Ivermectin for treatment.
Seven years ago, I wrote that Victorian-era diseases were returning, so file this post in the “Leslie was Right” folder.
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