Healthcare
Federal Health Departments Alarmed about Increases in Communicable Disease as Migrants enter Communities
Concerns raised by the New York City Health Commissioner in April of this year have now escalated to where federal, state, and city health departments are issuing public health alerts to address the growing threat to community health as a result of the influx of migrants crossing the southern border.
In Chicago the Department of Public Health (CDPH) Commissioner, Dr. Simbo Ige, expressed deep concern about the rise in chickenpox (varicella) cases, particularly within the past four weeks. The majority of these cases, a staggering 81%, were reported in individuals newly arrived from the U.S. southern border and living in shelters.
90% of the cases involved individuals who had not received the chickenpox vaccine. Since January 1, Chicago has reported nearly 400 cases of chickenpox, a stark increase from the median of 53 cases reported annually from 2005 to 2022. In response, the CDPH has instructed public schools to ensure incoming students are vaccinated and mandated the reporting of all confirmed chickenpox cases within 24 hours.
In Illinois, the Department of Public Health (IDPH) has taken action against the alarming rise in congenital syphilis cases, nearly tripling since 2021.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued an alert about an increase in monkeypox cases reported statewide. Californians are being encouraged to familiarize themselves with the signs and symptoms of monkeypox and take preventive measures, including vaccination, to protect against severe illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also issued a nationwide alert, highlighting the geographic spread of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and advising clinicians to report cases with relevant symptoms and recent travel to the affected region to their state health departments.
The Center Square reports:
According to the CDC, refugees and asylum seekers are not required to comply with vaccination requirements before coming to the U.S. However, they must comply when they apply to become Lawful Permanent Residents. The agency “strongly recommends” vaccines for refugees and asylum seekers “to protect against vaccine-preventable diseases, avoid delays in movement, and because school-aged children may be required to meet school-entry vaccination requirements upon school enrollment in the United States.” It also published a recommended, not mandatory, vaccination program for them, including an immunization schedule.
China
House Report Uncovers DOJ Secretly Investigated Nonprofit Accused of Channeling Taxpayer Funds to Wuhan Lab
A bombshell House committee report released Monday, after a two year investigation, revealed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) secretly initiated a grand jury investigation into EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S. nonprofit accused of channeling taxpayer funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), the lab suspected of causing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report, prepared by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, highlights concerns about EcoHealth’s grants, which allegedly funded gain-of-function research at the Chinese lab. Such research, aimed at enhancing viruses to study their potential risks, has been linked to theories suggesting the virus may have escaped from the lab. Efforts to access related records were reportedly obstructed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Internal emails and documents included in the report reveal that the grand jury issued subpoenas for genetic sequences and correspondence between EcoHealth Alliance’s president, Dr. Peter Daszak, and Dr. Shi Zhengli, a WIV scientist known as the “bat lady” for her work on coronaviruses. One email from EcoHealth’s legal counsel advised omitting references to the DOJ investigation when addressing congressional document requests, underscoring the probe’s secrecy.
The report also criticizes EcoHealth Alliance’s failure to comply with grant requirements. NIH funding facilitated a $4 million project on bat coronaviruses, $1.4 million of which was funneled to WIV. NIH deputy director Dr. Lawrence Tabak admitted the grant supported gain-of-function research, leading to highly infectious virus modifications.
The committee’s findings claim these experiments violated biosafety protocols, and Daszak failed to adequately oversee the research. Calls to bar Daszak and EcoHealth from future funding were reinforced by bipartisan agreement within the subcommittee.
The New York Post writes that the report also evaluated U.S. pandemic response measures, describing prolonged lockdowns as harmful to the economy and public health, especially for younger Americans. Mask mandates and social distancing policies were criticized as “arbitrary” and unsupported by conclusive scientific evidence. Public health officials’ inconsistent messaging, particularly from Dr. Anthony Fauci, contributed to public mistrust, according to the subcommittee.
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