The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is urging locals who were on certain buses or visited certain public locations at specific dates and times in March to be sure their measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines are up to date.
According to the CDPH’s Measles Dashboard, which is updated daily, “CDPH and partners have identified the following exposure locations in public settings for which a list of exposed people cannot be obtained.”
The list includes CTA Bus #8, Pace Bus #379, the CTA Orange Line, the Cook County Health Professional Building, the Iglesia Bautista Fundamental Church, and a Walmart Supercenter.
“If you or your child have not received your measles vaccinations, you are at higher risk of being infected with measles and you should monitor yourself for 21 days after exposure,” CDPH warns. “Children under 5 years of age, people with compromised immune systems, and pregnant people are at higher risk for severe disease and complications from measles.”
According to the dashboard’s latest figures, there have been 56 cases of measles in the Windy City this year, with three of them being reported during the week of March 31 – April 6.
As BizPac Review reported, a good many of those cases have been traced back to a migrant shelter in Pilsen.
Meanwhile, CDPH has also announced a “small number” of tuberculosis (TB) cases have been reported at “a few different shelters” for illegal migrants, according to Fox News Digital.
“CDPH is aware of a small number of cases of TB among new arrivals in a few different shelters over the course of the response,” the health agency said in a statement to Fox 32.
“The health body said 10% to 20% of Central and South American residents have a latent TB infection, which is asymptomatic and not transmissible to others,” Fox News Digital reports. “It does, however, result in a positive TB test, CDPH says.”
“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,” according to the CDPH statement. “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.”
Chicago alderman Raymond Lopez says the TB outbreak could have been prevented.
“This is a crisis we could have avoided, just like with the measles, if we had simply instituted the American standard of vaccines upon all those migrants being shipped to the city of Chicago,” Lopez told “Fox and Friends” on Thursday.
(Video: YouTube)
“Many of these individuals come with children, they are in our schools and all of those vaccination requirements that our kids are responsible for are waved for the migrant asylum seeker children,” the alderman stated. “And that is putting the people, families and communities at risk.”
But, according to the CDC, the TB vaccine isn’t widely used or very effective.
“The TB vaccine, known as BCG, is not widely used in the U.S. but it is often given to infants and small children in other countries where TB is common, the CDC website says,” Fox News Digital reports. “The CDC says it does not always protect people from getting TB.”
On X, users are accusing Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson of a “cover-up.”
“Johnson knew all along. Now the public knows,” one user wrote. “Exposed as a liar, Johnson and his allies have branded his critics anti-immigrant and racist.”
“Sounds more like [Mayor Brandon] and his allies seem to be fine with the spread of TB, via illegal immigrants,” noted the Cook County Republican Party, “rather than protecting their Chicago residents who they’re sworn to protect under law.”
Sounds more like @ChicagoMayor and his allies seem to be fine with the spread of TB, via illegal immigrants, rather than protecting their Chicago residents who they’re sworn to protect under law. #RememberInNovember https://t.co/CffwRkFuVt
— Cook County Republican Party (@CookCountyGOP) April 5, 2024
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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