Cheese spreads rare form of TB
You can’t argue with the fact that there are some extremely unhygienic third-world habits that illegal immigrants bring with them when they cross the border. I wouldn’t have much of a problem with it if their practices didn’t affect other people. Unfortunately, it does affect other people. In fact, it could be killing them.
A new form of tuberculosis known as M. bovis TB is rising among Hispanic immigrants in Southern California. Experts say that M. bovis is “a disease of antiquity,” and is being spread by illegal, unpasteurized dairy products, notably the popular “queso fresco” (literally translated: “fresh cheese”). Now, there is a very real fear that there could be a resurgence of a rare strain of TB that hasn’t been seen for centuries.
If you’re about to jump on me for being against the unpasteurized dairy products of illegal immigrants when I’m such a big raw milk proponent, just hold on a second. The raw milk that I advocate is produced by dairy farmers who follow extremely strict standards of cleanliness with their milking equipment and storage. As for “queso fresco?” It’s more widely known as “bath tub cheese.” I wonder how it got that name. Yes, that’s right: this stuff is produced in home tubs and backyard troughs.
Feeling nauseated? Read on. It gets worse.
The M. bovis germ can infect anyone who eats the contaminated fresh cheeses sold by street vendors. Street cheese? Who would eat such a thing? It’s truly hard to believe. The dangers of un-refrigerated dairy products might seem like common knowledge to you and me, but these illegal immigrants seem not to have learned the same things. Dairy products need to be kept cool, and last time I checked it can get fairly warm in Southern California.
According to researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, improved screening, treatment, and public education are necessary to prevent the further spread of this strain of TB, which already accounts for about 10 percent of the TB cases in the border region (and possibly more).
Timothy Rodwell, the lead researcher of the CDC study on the recent outbreaks of M. bovis TB, said, “It is important that [M. bovis TB] not be allowed to re-emerge as a cause of TB in this country.”
Cases of this strain of TB have been found particularly in children who drink or eat dairy foods made from the milk of infected cattle. And while this strain of TB isn’t spread through human-to-human contact, it is resistant to front-line drug therapy. Adults who get it are TWICE as likely to die as those with more traditional forms of TB.
The problem from these illegal cheeses is significant enough that last year a public health campaign included ads on Spanish-language TV stations spreading word of the danger. Agriculture officials have been cracking down bathtub cheese when they find it in Southern California markets. We can only hope that the government’s efforts to re- educate our unwanted and uninvited new “citizens” will be successful, not just expensive. But if not, rest assured that the U.S. healthcare system is there to help cure the infected illegal immigrants.
Of course as a taxpayer, you’ll have to pick up the tab.
