While Phyllis has a point on some of those diseases, they pale in comparison to the importance of keeping out Al Qaeda. Why come in legally when you can come in illegally.
If she thinks Chagas (which is endemic in South America and Mexico and has been slowly working its way up into Texas - we're seeing it now in dogs in Texas), drug resistant malaria, and West Nile are horrible, she hasn't seen anything yet. We will be seeing many more bizarre diseases coming from third world countries. Everyone in the medical and veterinary world is dreading this stuff but they are looking for it. What worries me is what bio WMD's are headed our way. They will be really dangerous, moreso than things that get introduced into the US from your average illegal.
Whew, what a day. We've been having high winds and they knocked out our power from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (thankfully, not before I made the morning pot of coffee, or it would have gotten ugly). I'll try to do some Christmas decorating today as soon as my fingers thaw out from having no heat in the house all morning.