Chicago health officials say a “small number” of tuberculosis (TB) cases have been reported in some migrant facilities following a recent outbreak of measles among migrants living in Windy City shelters.
The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) said the tuberculosis cases were reported at “several different shelters” in the city. However, authorities did not reveal the exact number of confirmed cases or which shelters they came from. Fox 32 Chicago reported.
The agency said medical teams have stepped up contact tracing to address the health issue. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs.
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The confirmed tuberculosis case comes amid more than 55 confirmed measles cases in Chicago, with the majority of those cases reported at the Pilsen Immigrant Shelter on Halstead Street.
“CDPH is aware that during the course of the response, a small number of tuberculosis cases have occurred among new arrivals at several different shelters,” health officials said in a statement to FOX 32. mentioned in.
The health agency said 10 to 20 percent of Latin American residents have latent tuberculosis infection, which is asymptomatic and cannot be transmitted to others. However, CDPH says it is possible for a person to test positive for tuberculosis.
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CDPH says tuberculosis is treatable with antibiotics and is not particularly contagious. Spreading the infection usually requires close, prolonged contact between individuals.
“Tuberculosis is neither a new nor a rare disease in Chicago, as the Chicago Department of Public Health typically expects between 100 and 150 cases of tuberculosis among Chicago residents each year,” the CDPH statement said. has been written. “While we will continue to provide treatment to individuals as needed and take appropriate precautions to eliminate spread, we do not believe this is an issue that poses a significant threat to the public.”
This 2006 electron microscopy image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes the disease tuberculosis. (Janice Carr/CDC/AP)
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Chicago City Councilman Raymond Lopez told Fox & Friends on Thursday morning that the outbreak could have been prevented if immigrants were required to follow the same vaccination rules as U.S. citizens. Ta.
“Like measles, this is a crisis that could have been avoided if we had introduced U.S.-standard vaccines for all immigrants transported into the city of Chicago,” Lopez said.
“Many of these people are coming with their children, they attend our schools, and all of the vaccination obligations that our children are responsible for are the same for immigrant asylum seeker children. “And it’s putting people, families and communities at risk.”
The tuberculosis vaccine, known as BCG, is not widely used in the United States, but is often given to infants and young children in other countries where tuberculosis is endemic, according to the CDC website. The CDC says it doesn’t always protect people from tuberculosis.
Dr. Aniruddha Hazra, an associate professor at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, says the vaccine isn’t really effective.
“There is no effective vaccine against tuberculosis,” Hazra told Fox 32 Chicago. “These outbreaks occur in crowded places where people live close to each other.”
Hazra says the situation is alarming, but there is no need for the public to panic.
Children cover their heads outside an immigrant shelter in Chicago on Wednesday, March 13. (AP/Erin Hooley)
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“The highest risk of tuberculosis is the other migrants living in the shelter,” Hazra said, adding that measles is preventable through vaccination.
The tuberculosis epidemic comes after the number of tuberculosis cases in the United States in 2023 was the highest in a decade, according to the CDC.
The number of infected people increased from 8,320 in 2022 to 9,615 in 2023, with the number of infected people increasing in all age groups, an increase of 1,295 people. According to data from the agency, nearly 10,000 people were infected in 2013.
FOX News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
