A recent incident involving an illegal Chinese immigrant with a rare form of tuberculosis has sparked concern and legal action in Louisiana.
The migrant originally entered the country through California. From there, she was flown to Alexandria, Louisiana, with approximately 100 other detainees then transferred to various Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities throughout the state.
The immigrant was eventually released into the general population at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile in August, despite showing tuberculosis (TB) symptoms.
This movement potentially exposed at least 200 other detainees and staff members to the rare TB strain. The Louisianans exposed to the migrant being shuffled around by the feds were extremely unhappy with these developments, and did not want the individual released into the general population until cleared by public health officials.
However, ICE refused the request.
The patient was tested for TB after showing some signs of the condition and transferred to two other facilities before returning to the detention center at Richwood.Three days later, despite growing symptoms of TB, the immigrant was taken to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile and she was released into the general population there. It wasn’t until October 9 that Louisiana Department of Health officials received positive results on her condition.Shortly after that, officials issued an order requiring ICE to hold detainees in facilities until they could be cleared for release by the Department of Health, but the agency refused, the lawsuit alleges.”This particular patient has a very resistant strain of tuberculosis,” Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham told reporters. “It is the only case in Louisiana, and we normally do not see a case such as this except from a foreign country.”
Justifiably, the Louisiana Attorney General is outraged with the lack of federal cooperation with this important public health matter, and is suing the Biden administration.
Republican Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed an “emergency lawsuit” against several Harris-Biden administration officials last week after a Chinese migrant with a rare form of tuberculosis illegally entered the US.The lawsuit seeks to prevent federal immigration officials from releasing “potentially infected detainees” that came in contact with the Chinese national – who has a “rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis which carries high mortality rates” – while she was in the custody of immigration and Customs Enforcement.“ICE has announced its intent to release potentially infected detainees from its two contract facilities [in Louisiana] — without being medically cleared by the Louisiana Department of Health — if an order requires release,” the complaint states.“By ICE’s telling, its hands are tied once its immigration-based detention authority runs out,” the lawsuit continues, warning that migrants who may have contracted the disease will be released “onto Louisiana streets, its bus stations, and its airports.”
The particular strain of concern in this case is a rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of the disease.
The lawsuit says the inmate is infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis, which impacts the lungs. It says the variant is drug-resistant and poses a grave danger. It also says that the inmate has been in contact with about 200 other people — prisoners and non-prisoners alike.”Studies say the mortality rate is anywhere from 34-39%,” the state says in its lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 16 under seal and unsealed Tuesday. While still under seal, a judge told ICE to abide by the state’s request pending a hearing in Lafayette on Oct. 31.The lawsuit says testing on the woman in July was “highly positive” for TB, but she was placed in the general population in August.
Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham said strain could be contained and the patient was receiving the proper medications.
In the early 19th century, tuberculosis, also known as “consumption,” was a major cause of death in the United States. By 1900, the death rate from TB in the U.S. was alarmingly high at 194 per 100,000 persons.The disease was so prevalent that it was responsible for killing one in seven of all people who had ever lived by the beginning of the 19th century.
American began winning the war against TB after antibiotics were discovered and widely utilized after World War 2. Streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against TB, was discovered in 1943, followed by para-aminosalicylic acid and isoniazid in 1952.
By 1995, the rate of new TB cases had decreased to 8.7 per 100,000, which is the the lowest since national surveillance began in 1953. And I suspect most Americans would like to keep it this low.
However, effective public health policy making is way down on the priority list when it comes to the Biden-Harris administration. It also shows how potentially hazardous those choices have been to Americans.
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