Some Immigrants In Columbus At Risk For Silent Killer

Central Ohio is home to some 70,000 Asian immigrants. And advocates worry a silent deadly disease is hidden in the population. Immigrants from Asia and some African nations face a greater risk for Hepatitis B and may not know they have it. That’s why local health workers are screening them for the contagious disease.

“Do you have a family doctor? Yes, but I don’t know the name of the doctor.”

18 year old Assa Zautam translates health care questions for her neighbor at the Saraga International Grocery store on Morse Road. Zautam is from the newest group of South Asian immigrants called the Butanese-Nepali. Her family is from Nepal but was forced to flee to nearby Butan. The family lived in a refugee camp for two decades before arriving in Columbus this year.

Zautam decides that she will get tested for Hepatitis B.

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