Hilfiger never said that, it is just a rumour.

As for dalits, they are the people who are very contagious. In case if a Dailt touches you, you immediatley need to take a shower so as to remove the viruses, bacteria, pathogens etc that the dalit might have transferred to you. It is better to take a bath in the Ganges river so as to detoxify yourself if a Dalit touches you. Thats why Dalits are kept in quarantine. Even SARS is not as infectious as a Dalit.
So BEWARE