Posted on 02/08/2008 12:44:53 PM PST by ddtorquee
The medical community is warning the public: a leprosy outbreak in Springdale could blossom into an epidemic, if something isn't done soon.
Doctors say at least nine cases of leprosy have been confirmed in Springdale. Local doctors say they would be shocked by even one case of leprosy in their entire career, so they say something must be done soon, in order to stop leprosy's spread.
Springdale MD Jennifer Bingham says, "my initial response was: I am shocked. I am shocked we are seeing this. It's a true reason to be very worried."
Medical specialists say the Marshall Islands have the most cases of leprosy, in the world. And the city with the largest number of Marshallese people, outside the Marshall islands, is Springdale. And Bingham says, it makes sense, then, that leprosy is spreading to the city. "It's from the Marshall islands; that's why we're seeing it."
Bingham says she is all for Marshallese people entering the United States, after proper medical tests. But whether they're immigrants or not, she says people must stick to treatment, when infected. And she says, when she treats those from the Marshall Islands, this doesn't happen. "We're not getting the compliance that is absolutely essential to take care of this process."
Bingham says without cooperation, leprosy, which has no vaccine, and is transmitted through the air, will spread, and could easily become an epidemic. "People absolutely should be concerned. What I'm afraid of, is when people start thinking about it enough, it will already be out of control."
(Excerpt) Read more at kfsm.com ...
“tourist attraction”
There you go—a kissing booth & right next to it, a
‘You Wanna Piece A Me?’ weight-guessing booth.
‘You Wanna Piece A Me?’ weight-guessing booth.
"I'll say you weigh about 180 lbs.---no, make that 165.....now 140.......125?"
AIYEEEEEEEE!
B-52 flying time Bossier City, LA (nearest bomber base) to Springdale, AR about 2 hours round trip. The crew can be back before the Barbecue is ready.
McCain will approve of this as he is an open borders republican........the man could care less about your health! He has been sitting on his as* in the Senate at least the last 15 years and lives in AZ! Has he one time offered a fix for the problem other than an amnesty that would only encourage more illegal invasion?
Americans would be better off moving to Mexico.
Thanks Huckabee for shoving illegals down our throat. Maybe we better pay for the illegal Mexicans health-care...Oh wait, we already do!
The article has now been removed from the KFSM website; I know it was up earlier today.
http://www.ardemgaz.com/ads/mi/articles/paradise.html
[snips]The Marshallese are on the lower economic rungs of Springdale’s work force. During the night shift at Tyson Foods’ Randall Road plant, about half of the workers are islanders. They are also common on the factory floor of Rockline Industries, which makes baby wipes and scented tissues.
Marshallese immigrants benefit from extraordinarily close ties to the United States that were codified when the countries signed the Compact of Free Association in 1986, when the islands gained their independence. Marshallese are allowed to live and work in the United States indefinitely without visas. As a result, few of those who immigrate seek U.S. citizenship.
At Springdale public schools, the English as a Second Language program hired a Marshallese tutor in 1997 when the need became apparent.
Thousands of Marshallese have made the same choice. Working in chicken plants, factories and fast-food restaurants, they enjoy a lifestyle that only a few could afford back home. In Springdale public schools, their children get a better education than most of the top-ranked private-schools’ students on the islands.
It’s unclear exactly how many Marshall Islanders call Springdale home. A special U.S. Census Bureau survey in 2001 indicated that there were 2,000 to 6,000 of the islanders in Springdale, a city that then had about 46,000 residents.
Since that survey, the influx has continued, islanders say. In the Springdale School District, the number of children speaking Marshallese as a first language grew from 226 in 2000 to 623 this fall.
Yet, the Marshallese often go unnoticed in Springdale, overshadowed by the 23,500 Hispanics who arrived in Northwest Arkansas during the 1990s.
Lang’s Marshallese neighbors open their garage doors on warm sunny days to reveal improvised living rooms where men and women lounge on couches. Children roam from home to home as if they all belong to one family.
On Springdale’s congested highways, a large number of cars have tall CB radio antennas. The radios are popular with Marshallese who use them to communicate just as they do back home where telephone service is unreliable. They have a CB radio group called “Big Yokwe” – “Big Hello.”
Among the new subdivisions in Springdale, houses here and there have shoe racks on front porches piled high with flip-flops and work boots, a sure sign of Marshallese within. Lang said some problems arose in the early days of the Marshallese community. The first immigrants weren’t aware of U.S. private property rights. Some islanders drank heavily on the weekends and ended up on the wrong side of the law when they passed out in neighbors’ yards, he said. Most behavior like that soon stopped.
bttt
What was it about the road to Hell being paved with good intentions? This is a nightmare.
Sill, the thought of these diseased creatures near the food supply is......
Leprosy in Arkansas! What’s next? The Plague?
I spent a month on Majuro in the RMI back in 2000. I was shocked to see that leprosy still existed there. There were posters up everywhere for people to take their leprosy medicines and be treated. I saw a number of lepers walking around the island. It is one of the saddest places in the world and at that time life expectancy was around 48 years. I knew about the large group of Marshallese in Arkansas but it never occured to me that they may have brought leprosy with them.
From the Springdale Ark Chamber of Copmmerce.
A Special Message from Perry Webb
Health Organizations Refute Story
A personal message from Perry Webb
Dear Chamber Members
You may be aware of a media report that is suggesting there has been an outbreak of leprosy in Springdale. This is not true.
The Chamber has been in touch this morning with Governor Mike Beebe, Congressman John Boozman, the Center for Disease Control and the Washington County Health Department. Each of these entities are fully engaged and are reporting to us that there is no “outbreak” of leprosy in Springdale or Northwest Arkansas.
In fact, the Washington County Health Department explains nothing has changed in the number of known cases of communicable diseases in Northwest Arkansas in the past year.
Please help us in our effort to diffuse this non-factual story with the accurate details of the Chamber’s research from this morning.
Perry Webb
Copmmerce=Commerce.
Proofread
Proofread,
Proofread.
The KFSM article has been pulled.
Europeans have what appears to be a genetic near immunity to the stuff. Doesn't mean you can't get it, but it's going to take a lot of exposure and special conditions.
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