A report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) found that unaccompanied immigrant children with contagious diseases have exposed or infected U.S. agents to chicken pox, lice, scabies and tuberculosis.

The report, which was released on Thursday, detailed the findings of the DHS during the 87 unannounced inspections it conducted from July 1 to 16 in 68 detention centers for unaccompanied alien children (UAC) in Arizona, California and Texas.

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The report found that a lot of UAC and families in the detention centers needed treatment for diseases such as chicken pox, scabies, tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses.

Several government employees working with the illegal immigrants and on the border have already reported exposure and contraction of the said diseases.

For instance, during a site inspection at a Del Rio U.S. border patrol station, a number of Customs and Border Protection personnel were found to have caught chicken pox, lice and scabies.

Border patrol staff said they had been exposed to tuberculosis while working at the Clint and Santa Teresa border stations.

Two CBP officers had likewise reported that their children had gotten chicken pox, days after they worked with UAC suffering from the same illness.

While the DHS Office of the Inspector General found that a majority of the detention centers appeared to be complying with standard safety and health regulations, it found one center that did not have a trained medical technician on site and four others that failed to provide UACs with access to medication.

Earlier this month, Georgia representative Phil Gingrey wrote to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) about his concern, saying that the immigration influx could potentially lead to an outbreak in the U.S., similar to the likes of the Ebola virus in Africa.

The UACs who are mostly unvaccinated against measles and chicken pox could infect American citizens, especially the young and the old as they are more susceptible to the illness, he wrote.

The CDC said it will take Gingrey's concern into consideration but noted that an outbreak was unlikely given the U.S.' advanced practices in infection and isolation.

Tagsborder crisis, DHS, Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, OIG, communicable disease, UAC, illegal immigrants, border patrol, border safety, chicken pox outbreak, Phil Gingrey, CDC, Centers for Disease Control