Diseases like leprosy, tuberculosis, syphilis, and malaria, long presumed to be extinct in the West, have been enjoying a resurgence amid the ongoing migrant crises.
Multiple studies have discovered connections between these illnesses and the geographic relocation of millions of individuals from countries with poor health infrastructures into North America and Europe. State health officials have begun telling medical professionals to ramp up testing to prevent widespread outbreaks, and the medical world is calling on academics to research ways by which their spread can be reduced.
Media outlet The Center Square recently produced a long round-up of warnings from government health officials about migration-related diseases over the last year. On Dec. 15th, the Chicago Department of Public Health announced it had seen an increase in chickenpox cases, especially in the four weeks prior, and noted that the majority of the cases were among “people newly arrived from the U.S. southern border living in shelters.” Similar statements about other diseases, such as syphilis, polio, tuberculosis, monkeypox have been issued from the governments of New York City, the state of Illinois, the state of California, border towns in Texas, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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In March, a study from MDPI’s Infectious Disease Reports claimed that refugees and asylum seekers are likely harboring communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV at higher levels, and stressed more research into the matter ought to be conducted.
Tuberculosis
In September, multiple tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported among migrants in El Paso, Texas. Over 70 cases of TB were found among migrants at the border in 2022, and the whereabouts of 25 of them are unknown. In April, it was being reported that cases of tuberculosis (and polio) were increasing in New York City due to an influx of migrants (as well as California, Texas, and Florida). This was followed up by an October story about a “dramatic” increase of TB in New York due to migratory patterns, combined with a shortage in the city’s medical staffing and crowding.
Leprosy
It was recently reported that a 54-year-old man in Florida had contracted leprosy. He was a lifelong resident of Florida, had not recently traveled, and had not been in contact with anyone that had the disease. Nor was in contact with any nine-banded armadillos, which are known carriers of M. leprae. However, he does work outside for a living as a landscaper, and central Florida at this point can be considered to be an endemic location for leprosy according to some scientific literature.
Central Florida accounts for about one-fifth of U.S. leprosy cases and 81 percent of Florida cases. Leprosy cases have more than doubled in southeastern states since 2010. Cases have been increasing in the region since 2000. Some 159 cases were reported in 2020 and Florida was among the states reporting the highest number of cases.
The unique strain of M. leprae, found in nine-banded armadillos, suggests animal transmissions, according to the CDC. These animals are native to South, Central, and North America.
However, there is also the strain of M. lepromatosis, which was only discovered in 2008—150 years after leprosy was first attributed to M. leprae. M. lepromatosis was founded in 43.9 percent of all leprosy cases in Mexico and 12.5 percent of Brazil cases—but the researchers at the time preemptively ruled out any conclusions about geography having an effect on the disease’s spread in the name of staving off “biases.”
Furthermore, the number one way leprosy is transmitted is through prolonged person-to-person contact. And a study from 2017 demonstrated that many case in the southern U.S. were not transmitted from animals.
Thus, the CDC report concludes, “Given those reports, there is some support for the theory that international migration of persons with leprosy is a potential source of autochthonous transmission.”
Reports from Spain, the CDC continues, have attributed rising cases of autochthonous leprosy to “an increase in migration from other countries.” Furthermore, the CDC acknowledges that the number of migrants from foreign countries to North America has increased from 27.6 million people in 1990 to 58.7 million in 2020 (according to the 2020 World Migration Report).
Nevertheless, the CDC claims to have found that leprosy cases are declining among people born outside the U.S. since 2002, indicating that the disease is now firmly based within the U.S., especially endemic locations like central Florida. It recommends travelers to central Florida to be on the lookout for symptoms and urges local health professionals to report known cases. It also insists further research be conducted into ways to reduce the spread of the disease.
Malaria, Syphilis, Monkeypox, COVID
Additionally, multiple cases of locally-acquired malaria in the U.S. were recently recorded in Florida as well as Texas by the CDC, the first in decades.
The Illinois Department of Public Health has told medical professionals to increase syphilis testing due to a spike in the disease, which the CDC reports has reached its highest level in 30 years.
California’s health department warned about an increase of monkeypox, which the CDC attributes to migrants from Africa.
Officials from Laredo, Texas sued the federal government after it released a group of illegal migrants into their town and caused an outbreak of COVID-19.
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