Tuberculosis carried by illegal migrants has already infected Texas cattle, but a longtime veterinarian says flesh-eating parasites could be next.
Mass migration exposes the United States’ food supply to diseases and parasites that could ultimately affect national security, animal health experts told The Epoch Times.
With unfettered illegal immigration—some 9 million encounters since 2021—the normal guardrails for inspection are ignored, raising the likelihood of unwanted diseases being brought across the border.
Dr. Michael Vickers has been a veterinarian for about 50 years and served on the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC),
The threat to the food supply is already apparent from the past cases of tuberculosis (TB) transmitted from illegal immigrants to dairy cows in Texas, he said.
Concerns are growing that it’s only a matter of time before U.S. agriculture experiences a fresh disaster on a grand scale, Dr. Vickers said.
“These people are just destroying our country. And our food supply is going to be a real critical issue,” he told The Epoch Times.
In recent years, thousands of Texas cattle have been slaughtered after being infected with drug-resistant TB through contact with illegal aliens who end up working in dairies, Dr. Vickers said
He recalled two separate instances in which dairy herds were infected with human strains of TB in the Texas Panhandle. Certain strains of TB are zoonotic, meaning that they can be spread between humans and animals.
One Texas herd of about 10,000 was affected in Castro County in 2015, and another 13,000 cattle were affected in Sherman County in 2019, according to TAHC records.
Investigators found that the human strains had originated outside of the United States.
“Most of the dairy herds in the United States are actually milked by people from Central America and beyond,” Dr. Vickers said.
The USDA bought the Castro County herd and slaughtered it, he said. The Sherman County herd, which consisted of higher-priced organic cows, continued to be tested for TB, with infected animals removed from the herd.
Dr. Vickers said he learned that 12 illegal immigrants who were working with those dairy herds were infected with TB.
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