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Doctor Says Illegal Immigration’s Causing ‘Public Health Crisis’ [VIDEO]

Hannah Bleau Contributor
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Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel said a public health crisis is emerging because illegal immigrants are carrying diseases across the border, and the Centers for Disease Control ought to get involved.

“We need the CDC involved — right now it’s Homeland Security,” Siegel said Monday on “Fox and Friends.”

Unlike legal immigrants, illegal immigrants obviously are not being screened for diseases, Siegel explained, and that’s a public health problem. “We’re not talking enough about the medical side of [illegal immigration],” he said.

The recent influx of illegal immigrants is reigniting worries over diseases, such as tuberculosis, scabies, dengue fever, measles and even leprosy.

Siegel said 10 to 25 percent of illegal immigrants coming to the U.S. have scabies, which is a highly contagious skin condition with intense itching and a rash because of a mite. Tuberculosis is reemerging in a dangerous drug resistant strain, he added, and dangue fever, which causes fatigue and muscle aches, is emerging in Texas.

“Now, I don’t want to scare anyone there out there more than I already have,” Siegel continued. “Leprosy — extremely rare. And for dangue fever, you need mosquitoes … but they’re starting to breed now in south Texas. This is a major problem in Texas and Arizona now.”

Because of the disease risks, Dr. Siegel recommends that parents ensure their children are getting the proper vaccinations before the school year starts. He is also urging doctors to look for the signs of these diseases in their patients.