CDC Looking for Contagious Diseases at Border

By activating the Centers for Disease Control’s Emergency Operations Center in response to the immigration crisis in the southwest, the CDC is on alert to spot outbreaks of "epidemic diseases" such as measles, mumps, polio and tuberculosis, infectious disease specialist Dr. Larry Bush said on Newsmax TV.

"The major concerns would be the vaccine preventable diseases," he said on "America’s Forum." "Those childhood vaccines that we mandatorily give to all children here in this country may not be the same thing that's going on outside of the country. That's usually what leads to any new epidemics of measles or mumps or even things like influenza in this country. In essence, most people for the childhood diseases are immunized where others may not be."

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Syndicated radio host Alex Jones reported on his website Infowars Thursday that the CDC, "unbeknownst to the American public," has confirmed activation of its Emergency Operations "to deal with various diseases accompanying the surge of illegal aliens currently staging a virtually uncontested U.S. invasion."

If medical personnel have, as some reports have indicated, been threatened with arrest for disclosing seeing epidemic disease, it would be in violation of infection control guidelines or recommendations including "syndromic surveillance" which surveys for "new epidemics or entry of diseases so that you can see if they're spreading," according to Bush.

If people who have entered the country illegally are carrying active diseases such as measles, mumps, polio, tuberculosis or influenza, putting them on buses and airplanes to transport them "could be devastating," he said.

Most Americans should be protected from those diseases since there are mandatory vaccines in the United States, but influenza is particularly concerning because many people choose not to get vaccinated for it, according to Bush. He advised to be on the lookout for flu symptoms even in summer months.

"Also, tuberculosis is always a concern because it is a very prevalent disease worldwide," he said.

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