PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) – Border Patrol Agents are the men on the front lines having to deal with the children coming across our southern border.

One of their biggest concerns is the diseases that kids could bring with them. The agents have to check the immigrants for diseases, and if they have them, they could potentially get sick and bring the illness home to their families.

According to Shawn Moran, the vice president and spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council, scabies and lice are the two main infestations that his agents come across. He adds that chicken pox, measles, H1N1 and tuberculosis are also pretty common. Really, he says they see a whole gamete of diseases and that’s what his men are most concerned with.

Moran tells KDKA Radio’s Mike Pintek that there have been agents who have been hospitalized with respiratory illnesses that they believe came from their job. He says the agents understand going into the job that this is one of their responsibilities.