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Meanwhile, back in Angela Merkel’s Germany, the flood of new
refugees has not just brought with it a crime wave. Some of the refugees have
also brought infectious diseases with them.
Soeren Kern of the Gatestone Institute has the story:
A
failed asylum seeker from Yemen who was given sanctuary at a church in northern
Germany to prevent him from being deported has potentially infected more
than 50 German children with a highly contagious strain of tuberculosis.
The
man, who was sheltered at a church in Bünsdorf between January and May 2017,
was in frequent contact with the children, some as young as three, who were
attending a day care center at the facility. He was admitted to a hospital in
Rendsburg in June and subsequently diagnosed with tuberculosis — a disease
which only recently has reentered the German consciousness.
Kern’s information comes from a report prepared by the
Robert Koch Institute, the German government’s version of our CDC. For the
record, I underscore that the Koch Institute has nothing to do with the Koch
brothers or Coca Cola or cocaine.
The RDI tells a gruesome story:
The
report shows increased incidences in Germany of adenoviral conjunctivitis,
botulism, chicken pox, cholera, cryptosporidiosis, dengue fever,
echinococcosis, enterohemorrhagic E. coli, giardiasis, haemophilus influenza,
Hantavirus, hepatitis, hemorrhagic fever, HIV/AIDS, leprosy, louse-borne
relapsing fever, malaria, measles, meningococcal disease, meningoencephalitis,
mumps, paratyphoid, rubella, shigellosis, syphilis, toxoplasmosis,
trichinellosis, tuberculosis, tularemia, typhus and whooping cough.
Most of these diseases have been contained. Yet, the
statistics are grim. Kern reports:
The
incidence of Hepatitis B, for example, has increased by 300% during the last
three years, according to the RKI. The number of reported cases in Germany was
3,006 in 2016, up from 755 cases in 2014. Most of the cases are said to involve
unvaccinated migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The incidence of
measles in Germany jumped by more than 450% between 2014 and 2015, while the
number of cases of chicken pox, meningitis, mumps, rubella and whooping cough
were also up. Migrants also accounted for at least 40% of the new cases of
HIV/AIDS identified in Germany since 2015, according to
a separate RKI report.
The RKI
statistics may be just the tip of the iceberg. The number of reported cases of
tuberculosis, for example, was 5,915 in 2016, up from 4,488 cases in 2014, an
increase of more than 30% during that period. Some doctors, however, believe
that the actual number of cases of tuberculosis is far higher and have accused
the RKI of downplaying the threat in an effort to avoid fueling
anti-immigration sentiments.
Apparently, the German press has been reporting about the
problem. Kern collected a set of headlines:
"Refugees
Often Bring Unknown Diseases to the Host Country"; "Refugees
Bring Rare Diseases to Berlin"; Refugees
in Hesse: Return of Rare Diseases"; "Refugees
Often Bring Unknown Diseases to Germany"; "Experts:
Refugees Bring 'Forgotten' Diseases"; "Three
Times More Hepatitis-B Cases in Bavaria"; "Cases
of Tapeworm in Germany Increased by More than 30%"; "Infectious
Disease: Refugees Bring Tuberculosis"; "Tuberculosis
in Germany is on the Rise Again, Especially in the Big Cities: Caused by
Migration and Poverty"; "Refugees
Are Bringing Tuberculosis"; More
Diseases in Germany: Tuberculosis is Back"; "Medical
Practitioner Fears Tuberculosis Risk due to Refugee Wave"; "Significantly
More Tuberculosis in Baden-Württemberg: Migrants often Affected";
"Expert:
Refugee Policy to Blame for Measles Outbreak"; "Scabies
on the Rise in North Rhine-Westphalia"; "Almost
Forgotten Diseases Like Scabies Return to Bielefeld"; "Do
You Come into Contact with Refugees? You Should Pay Attention"; and
"Refugees:
A Wide Range of Disorders."
Finally, the refugees have brought with them many diseases
that had been eradicated in Germany. Among them: Louse-borne relapsing fever;
Lassa fever; Dengue fever; Malaria; Echinococcosis,
a tapeworm infection; diphtheria; scabies.
Not to be too repetitive, but this
all shows that we in the rest of the Western world need more leaders like
Angela Merkel. Right?
3 comments:
I am reminded of the complaints of the Left years ago about Columbus and white people bringing their European diseases to their New World paradise. I guess we have to atone for our sins now by such reverse exposure
Stuart: Finally, the refugees have brought with them many diseases that had been eradicated in Germany. Among them: Louse-borne relapsing fever; Lassa fever; Dengue fever; Malaria; Echinococcosis, a tapeworm infection; diphtheria; scabies.
If anything this shows why we ought to care about the health of people in the rest of the world. We can be glad for the Gates Foundation that helps with many such diseases.
Sestamibi reminds of the lesson from Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel", and certainly we've exported them all to the world.
And if some new bird flu strain creates and epidemic, we're all in danger. Thank goodness the U.S. has our CDC, and Europe has their own such scientists who can keep us alive while they figure out "what the hell is going on" as Trump likes to say.
Another reason to avoid elective wars through delegation that are a first-order forcing of catastrophic anthropogenic immigration reform. Not only elevated risk for the survivors of refugee crises, but also the non-refugees left behind. The rise of left-wing anti-nativism, from Africa to the Middle East to Eastern Europe and globally is not limited to Planned Parenthood, or to [class] diversity (e.g. racism), and forcing population redistribution for democratic leverage (e.g. gerrymandered districts) and welfare profits, is a clear and progressive threat to people everywhere.
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