Public health officials in Chicago reported cases of tuberculosis at some migrant shelters.
While TB rates are high in Central/South America, officials noted it requires prolonged close contact to spread and is treatable with antibiotics.
“It is important to note that an estimated 10-20% of residents of Central and South America have latent TB infection, which is asymptomatic and not transmissible to others, but does result in a positive TB test. For those who do have active cases of TB disease, CDPH assigns a nurse case manager to each individual and performs a contact tracing investigation,” a Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) spokesperson stated.
The city typically sees 100-150 TB cases annually.
“TB is curable with antibiotics and is not particularly infectious, typically requiring several hours or more of prolonged close contact between individuals to spread, but CDPH continues to take cases seriously in order to keep it contained. To date, CDPH has not confirmed any reports of TB that resulted from exposure to new arrivals in Chicago,” CDPH stated.
“TB is not a novel or rarely seen illness in Chicago, as the Chicago Department of Public Health typically expects to see between 100-150 cases of tuberculosis in Chicago residents in an average year. We will continue to offer treatment to individuals as necessary and take the proper precautions to eliminate spread, but we do not consider this a matter presenting a substantial threat to the public,” they stated.
A city alderman criticized officials for keeping the issue secret, saying warnings about health impacts of mass immigration were ignored.
He demanded immunization standards for migrants and their children in schools.
“I have warned Chicago for months about what was already here,” Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez wrote.
“Performative politics and hurt feelings kept City Hall from avoiding the obvious looming disaster. Anyone who demanded action to protect our residents was called racist, xenophobic, and anti-immigrant by fringe politicians,” Lopez wrote.
“And now here we are: measles, now tuberculosis both ‘confirmed’ in Chicago. Shame on every mouthpiece that worked so hard to keep this secret.”
“I don’t expect apologies or an enlightened response from the performative deniers: those folks have never let facts get in the way of their narrative. However, everyday Chicagoans MUST demand [Chicago Mayor] and his cronies take this seriously, demand American immunization standards for all asylum seekers and their children within [Chicago Public Schools], and stop muting the truth,” he wrote.
Chicago and New York have seen TB and other disease cases resulting from migrant inflows under relaxed border policies.
While officials downplayed the threat, the Biden administration confirmed thousands of migrant children with inactive TB entered the US interior in 2023 after a court order.
