Leprosy, Polio, TB, and Malaria: What Do They Have in Common? Illegal Aliens.

What do leprosy, polio, malaria, tuberculosis, and measles all have in common? Two things: They were mostly eradicated in the United States until recently, and they have recently been reintroduced and are flaring up in various locations in the US now — brought in (at least in part) by unscreened, unvaccinated, unidentified illegal immigrants.

Successful public health campaigns and medical advances have enabled the United States to conquer a range of disfiguring and damaging diseases. Polio, which paralyzed thousands of Americans annually, was wiped out by widespread vaccinations. In 1999 the nation’s last hospital for lepers closed its doors in Louisiana. A global campaign eradicated smallpox, while lethal tuberculosis, the “consumption” that stalked characters in decades of literature, seemed beaten by antibiotics. Measles outbreaks still occur from time to time, but they are small, local, and easily contained.

Recently, however, some of these forgotten but still formidable infectious diseases have begun to reappear in the U.S. For two years running, polio has been detected in some New York water samples, and this fall, leprosy re-emerged in Florida, where cases of malaria have also been recorded.

While leprosy can be spread by, of all things, armadillos, and malaria still lingers in swampy areas around the country, those disease reservoirs were largely under control — until now. The sudden outbreaks of these diseases correlate very distinctly with the sudden influx of unscreened illegals across the southern border. Yes, correlation is not causation, but that doesn’t mean that correlation may not indicate causation. In any case, one would think that the sudden outbreaks of these diseases would prompt some action on the part of the Biden Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the Department of Homeland Security, all of whom are responsible for various aspects of immigration and public health.

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