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“The link between EV D-68 and Latin American children was established in a peer-reviewed medical article published in Virology Journal on Oct. 11, 2013, titled “Human rhinoviruses and enteroviruses in influenza-like illness in Latin America.” It was co-authored by a team of virologists headed by Josefina Garcia, U.S. Naval Medical Unit 6 in Lima, Peru, who worked with the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

In the 2013 study, Garcia and her medical associates collected 3,375 nose and throat swab samples from subjects under 8 years old, with a median age of 3 years. They found that human enteroviruses (HEV), including EV-D68, was discovered in 3 percent of the samples while the related human rhinoviruses (HRV) was found in 16 percent of the samples.

The study concluded: “In Latin America as in other regions, HRVs and HEVs account for a substantial proportion of viruses identified in young people with ILI (Influenza-like Illness), a finding that provides additional support for the development of pharmaceuticals and vaccines targeting these pathogens.”

Poor hygiene

There is also little doubt in the medical literature that EV-D68 is transmitted through poor bathroom hygiene.

A typical example cited is an infected doorknob that could transmit a virus to healthy children for the next three to five days, with a secondary possibility of transmission via the respiratory “oral-to-oral” route more likely to occur in crowded living conditions.

A memo dated July 30 from DHS Inspector General John Roth to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson documented the following regarding the surge of Latin American youth being held in DHS facilities on the southern border: “UAC and family units and unfamiliarity with bathroom facilities resulted in unsanitary conditions and exposure to human waste in some holding facilities.”

In the 2013 study, Garcia and her medical associates collected 3,375 nose and throat swab samples from subjects under 8 years old, with a median age of 3 years. They found that human enteroviruses (HEV), including EV-D68, was discovered in 3 percent of the samples while the related human rhinoviruses (HRV) was found in 16 percent of the samples.

Again, that means virtually nothing. That doesn't say that EV-D68 was found in 3 percent of the samples, it just says that Enteroviruses (any kind of enterovirus) were found in 3 percent of the samples (which were taken from people who had flu-like symptoms). That is not surprising, since enteroviruses are very common - for instance, they are among the more common caues of the common cold. So, finding enteroviruses in people who present with flu-like illnesses is pretty much expected. Anywhere.