Doctors in Spain's Ceuta sound alarm over tuberculosis and scabies among migrants

Doctors in the Spanish city of Ceuta, on the northern coast of Africa, are urging authorities to urgently roll out a crisis plan, set up a field hospital and send in additional medical staff amid fears of an outbreak of infectious diseases among migrants. According to their assessment, if action isn't taken within the next 15 to 30 days, the situation could escalate into a full-blown health crisis.

Enrique Roviralta, a representative of Ceuta's medical faculty, said the warning isn't meant to spread panic, but to head off serious problems that are genuinely brewing. Overcrowding, poor hygiene, and thousands of migrants living together in makeshift camps, warehouses and public squares are creating what he describes as a medical "ticking time bomb."

Hospital already stretched to its limits

Ceuta's University Hospital is already under enormous strain: just seven specialists are staffing the emergency department, even as demand for medical care has tripled. Spanish authorities insist the situation in Ceuta has already returned to normal, but hospital management disputes this, saying the facility is far from operating under normal conditions.

Roviralta, who previously served as a military doctor during the Kosovo conflict, warns that the hospital's overload will inevitably mean delayed care for elderly and chronically ill local residents.

Scabies, tuberculosis and other infections

Doctors confirm that numerous cases of scabies have already been recorded in overcrowded areas, driven by close contact and inadequate hygiene. A tuberculosis case is also reportedly being treated in intensive care.

Beyond tuberculosis and scabies, migrants are also facing a spread of respiratory illnesses, fungal infections, lice, salmonellosis, shigellosis, cholera and other infections transmitted through the fecal-oral route — a direct consequence of limited access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Measles poses a further threat, along with dehydration linked to diarrhea or pneumonia following common colds.

Public-sector unions have joined doctors in calling the situation in Ceuta "critical," backing their demands for immediate action. They stress that packing large numbers of people into small areas without adequate medical infrastructure poses a public health risk to the entire city.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz