TB scare in S.C.
- From: "Ray Keller" <raykeller@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:27:31 -0700
131 EXPOSED IN GREENVILLE
TB scare in S.C. puts immigrants' health in spotlight
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ AND AMES ALEXANDER
fordonez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The number of workers exposed to tuberculosis at a Greenville, S.C., chicken
plant has grown to 131, but state health officials cautioned Tuesday only
one is suspected of having an active form of the infectious disease.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control began testing
employees at the House of Raeford Farms plant late last month after the
agency was told about the infected worker. So far, 286 employees who have
been in contact with the worker have been tested.
The percentage of positive cases is believed to be high because many of the
plant's employees come from other countries where the disease may be more
prevalent, said agency spokesman Thom Berry.
While not considered an immediate threat to Greenville residents, the number
of infected workers reflects a concern about a growing health threat:
immigrants increasingly carrying TB to the U.S.
"It's become more of an imported disease," said Dr. Jason Stout, an
infectious disease specialist at Duke University who serves as one of North
Carolina's tuberculosis consultants.
House of Raeford employs about 650 workers at its Greenville plant who
process chicken for stores and fast-food restaurants. Many of the workers
live in small neighborhoods surrounding the plant.
Foreign-born residents accounted for 55 percent of TB cases nationwide in
2005 -- the last year for which statistics were available. The greatest
number of foreign born cases, 25 percent, or 1,942 cases, came from Mexico,
followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, and India. In 1993, foreign-born
residents made up 29 percent of reported TB cases.
Every year, thousands of illegal immigrants come to the Carolinas to work in
poultry, construction and other industries. But undocumented workers are not
the only ones entering the United States without being tested for TB. While
refugees receive the tests, many immigrants traveling on tourist, business
and student visas do not, according to experts.
"That is a major problem," said Carol Pozsik, CEO of the National TB
Controllers Association.
House of Raeford Farm officials did not respond to calls to discuss the
cases. It's unclear how many of the infected workers are still employed at
the plant. Health officials said there's no risk to other employees as long
as the cases are inactive.
They also say the strain found in the poultry worker is "very treatable" --
unlike the drug-resistant form contracted by Andrew Speaker, the Atlanta
lawyer who made news last month by traveling internationally and sneaking
back into the country with the disease.
Disease characteristics
Tuberculosis primarily affects the lungs, but can also spread to the kidneys
or spinal column. The disease, which can be fatal, is transferred from
person-to-person and cannot be transmitted to food.While cases of the
disease have been declining nationally for years, the rate of decline has
been slowing in recent years, according to the Atlanta-based Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The House of Raeford worker suspected of having an active case has not been
identified.
Berry said the 131 workers whose skin tests were positive did not
necessarily have active cases of tuberculosis. Sixty of those workers were
given chest examinations that showed no signs of active tuberculosis. Two
others had inconclusive results and are receiving further tests. They hope
to test the remaining workers soon.
More than 60 percent of line workers in the chicken industry are Hispanic.
And experts say most of the workers probably entered the U.S. already
infected.
They point out chicken plants are a natural environment for aerosolized TB
germs. Pozsik said the high use of water and steam in a plant allows TB to
remain aerosolized, exposing more workers to infection.
However, fewer than 5 percent of those who test positive on skin tests for
TB are active carriers of the disease, Duke's Stout said. Even those who
have active TB generally can't transmit the disease to others unless they
share a confined space for a prolonged period of time.
"The average population should not be concerned unless they work with these
folks, live with them, or interact with them," Pozsik said. "They should not
be worried. It's really about sharing the same air over time. That is the
secret."
Prevention urged
Pozsik, the former head of S.C. Department of Health and Environmental
Control TB control program, says health departments encourage people to get
treatment to prevent the spread of a dangerous disease. Illegal immigrants
often are reluctant to seek medical attention, however, fearing exposing
themselves could lead to their deportation.
"One of our problems is when they get frightened and they leave," Pozsik
said. "And if they do get sick and break down we haven't had the chance to
treat them with the disease."
The health department will not ask patients their residency status or report
illegal immigrants who seek treatment to immigration authorities, spokesman
Berry said.
She said infected immigrants are more likely to become active in the first
two years of immigrating to the U.S. when their stress levels are high due
to residency status fears, questions about health care, and the uncertainty
of living in a new community.
"This puts stress on their immune system," she said. "Any kind of worry and
they go from infected to disease much more easily."
Tuberculosis Statistics
Nationally, the TB rate among Hispanics in the United States -- 9.2 for
every 100,000 people -- was about eight times higher than that for whites,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
African Americans, at a rate of 10.1 for every 100,000 people, are more
likely to have tuberculosis than Hispanics, as are Asians, at a rate of
25.5.
From 2005 to 2006, the number of foreign-born TB cases in North Carolinaincreased about 22 percent -- from 110 to 134, according to the N.C.
Division of Public Health.
--
--
Ray Keller
raykeller@xxxxxxxxxx
Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other
terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American ...the
unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or
state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the
hands of the people.
-Tench Coxe, 20 Feb 1788
Gun Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and
strangled with her panty hose, is somehow morally superior to a
woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound
Every man, woman, and responsible child has a natural,
fundamental, and inalienable human, individual, civil, and
Constitutional right (within the limits of the Non-Aggression
Principle) to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any
weapon -- handgun, shotgun, rifle, machinegun, anything
-- anytime, anywhere, without asking anyone's permission.
,
The Atlanta Declaration
-- L. Neil Smith
http://www.lneilsmith.com/
In truth, one who believes it wrong to arm himself against criminal
violence shows contempt of God's gift of life (or, in modern parlance,
does not properly value himself), does not live up to his responsibilities
to his family and community, and proclaims himself mentally and morally
deficient, because he does not trust himself to behave responsibly. In
truth, a state that deprives its law-abiding citizens of the means
to effectively defend themselves is not civilized but barbarous,
becoming an accomplice of murderers, rapists, and thugs and revealing
its totalitarian nature by its tacit admission that the disorganized,
random havoc created by criminals is far less a threat than are men and
women who believe themselves free and independent, and act accordingly.
- Jeffrey Snyder, "Nation of Cowards"
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