Maine governor: Asylum seekers bring diseases such as ‘ziki fly’

Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine

Republican Gov. Paul LePage says asylum seekers are the biggest problem in Maine because they bring disease, including AIDS and what he called the “ziki fly.”

LePage said Tuesday at a public forum in Freeport that foreign people seeking asylum expose the public to diseases. The “ziki fly” he mentioned was an incorrect reference to Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that might be linked to abnormally small heads in newborns. So far, it’s affected countries mostly in South and Central America.

LePage says asylum seekers also bring hepatitis C, tuberculosis and HIV.

Several people in the crowd responded, “Shame! Shame!”

Public-health experts say they haven’t seen any data linking asylum seekers to the spread of infectious diseases in Maine.

“I don’t think the governor has a really good grasp of public health,” said Megan Hannan, executive director of the Frannie Peabody Center in Portland, which treats people with HIV/AIDS.

LePage said asylum seekers differ from refugees in that they overstay their visas and do not receive a medical assessment.

“And what happens is you get hepatitis C, tuberculosis, AIDS, HIV, the ‘ziki fly,’ [sic] all these types of other foreign diseases that find a way to our land,” he said.

LePage has strongly opposed providing welfare benefits for asylum seekers and has been conducting “town hall” forums around the state to discuss his agenda.

Tuesday’s event at the Freeport Public Library was more contentious than most. Many in the audience heckled him, and LePage at times shouted to be heard. Several people walked out of the meeting.

The rise in hepatitis C cases is due to an increase in intravenous drug use, said Hannan. She said some immigrants, primarily from Africa, have HIV and tuberculosis, but there is no evidence they’re spreading the disease. She said there are no known cases of the Zika virus in Maine.