|
DETRROIT NEWS
November 4, 2009
H1N1 outbreak hits migrants
The July outbreak on blueberry farms across Van Buren and Allegan
counties in southwest
The outbreak posed no danger to the food supply, since the virus can't
spread through produce handled by infected workers, said Dr. Nigel
Paneth, professor of epidemiology at Michigan State University. But the
incident points to the effect of budget cuts on
One of the camps affected by the flu outbreak was run by Adkin Blue
Ribbon Packing Co. of South Haven, which was among 35 Michigan farms
fined $36,134 for housing and child labor violations last week by the
U.S. Department of Labor. Adkin disputes the charges, none of which was
related to the H1N1 outbreak.
Department of Agriculture officials say they were so short staffed at
the beginning of the summer due to budget cuts ordered by Gov. Jennifer
Granholm that they were only able to license about half the migrant
farms in the state -- and they weren't able to inspect dwellings to
determine if they were overcrowded or met minimum safety and sanitation
rules.
Even had the staffing been available to inspect all migrant housing and
force changes to overcrowded conditions, officials say those efforts
might not have been enough to avoid the flu's spread.
"If we had staffing sufficient to go back and do occupancy inspections,
it would certainly alleviate the overcrowding," said Mark Swartz,
manager of Migrant Labor Housing program at the Department of
Agriculture. "(The virus) probably would have swept through the camps
anyway, but ... hopefully reducing the housing densities would reduce
the risk of transfer."
Problems at the camps were compounded this year by a near-record
blueberry crop that attracted a crush of migrants -- displaced by crop
freezes in
"There was just a tremendous amount of workers this year," said
Staffing reduced
Cost-cutting early retirements reduced staff in the Migrant Labor
Housing unit from eight sanitarians to five in 2002, Swartz said. Prior
to that, sanitarians would inspect each mobile home before the season
started, and come back after the units were occupied. With the reduction
in workers, the department could no longer do the second inspection --
and had no way to determine how many people moved in.
Already short-staffed, the department lost yet another worker in May
when Granholm issued an order slashing $150,000 from their budget,
Swartz said. That left four sanitarians to inspect 850 migrant camps,
which include 4,400 living units to house 22,000 migrants and their
families.
The state has more than 90,000 seasonal workers each year, but only
about a quarter of migrant housing is licensed, Swartz added. Five of
the camps affected by flu were licensed, and the other five were not,
according to Swartz.
While short-staffed, the problem was compounded by a rule that prevented
state inspectors from working overtime during a pay period that included
a furlough day. Migrant Labor Housing learned about the outbreak on a
July 10, a furlough day, according to Swartz.
"With the executive order, we were down one (inspector) in the field and
the furlough days further hindered our (ability to) respond," Swartz
said, adding the seasonal nature of his department's work meant overtime
was common that time of year.
Flu hits migrant camps
The H1N1 outbreak was noticed when residents of two Allegan County
migrant camps arrived with flu symptoms at a clinic run by InterCare
Community Health Network, a nonprofit that treats migrant workers at six
health clinics across southwest Michigan's rural fruit and vegetable
belt. Swab tests revealed H1N1.
"All of this broke loose on a Friday afternoon," InterCare CEO Velma
Hendershott said. The Migrant Housing Labor unit had to get special
approval from the state Office of Employer to bring workers back from
furlough to inspect the affected camps.
More than two dozen health workers from InterCare, county health
departments, state Community Health Department and the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention worked to halt the outbreak. Workers
closed down some Head Start and summer school programs for migrant
children to keep the disease from spreading, and administered roughly
300 doses of the anti-viral medication Tamiflu.
Tony Marr, general manager of Adkin Blue Ribbon Packing, which the U.S.
Labor Department cited for allowing children as young as 6 to pick
blueberries, said many children were with their parents in the fields
because Head Start and summer school programs were closed to stop the
spread of H1N1.
"The migrant Head Start program was shut down for a week to 10 days,
which left a lot of children in our camps," Marr said.
"Parents were saddled with how do we go to work and what do we do with
the kids," Marr said.
"We certainly don't want anybody to think the blueberry industry
promotes child labor."
The connections
Tom Thornburg, co-managing attorney for Farmworker Legal Services, a
statewide nonprofit, said the outbreak illustrates the connections
between funding decisions by the state, public policy and public health.
"It's not something advocates are eager to have broadcast when it
happens, because ... when there's publication of these events it tends
to fuel the fires of intolerance and migrants need to assimilate into
the schools and communities where they are," Thornburg said. "(But)
migrant labor housing conditions have worsened along with the continual
downsizing of the state Migrant Labor Housing Inspection Program.
"Before 2002, the state would do two annual inspections. Now, by their
own admission they cannot get to them to minimally inspect once before
they are licensed."
The 2010 budget approved for the Department of Agriculture includes a
$300,000 shortfall for the Environmental Stewardship Division, which
oversees the Migrant Labor Housing unit, as well as several other
programs. Agriculture officials have not decided which programs will be
cut.
Swartz said the appropriations bill includes language that would allow
the department to assess a fee from farmers for licensing their camps,
but it would require an amendment to the public health code.
If approved by lawmakers, the license fee could generate an additional
$110,000 for the Migrant Labor Housing Program.
"We're hopeful we will be able to assess a licensing fee to increase or
at least maintain our staffing level," Swartz said. "We would like to be
able to go out and inspect the camps after they are occupied to make
sure they are not overcrowded and are still in compliance after the
season starts."
|