More than 2,200 people quarantined at immigration centers during an outbreak of mumps



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Audrey Conklin | Journalist

US immigration officials say 2,287 people were quarantined nationwide after being exposed to an outbreak of mumps in two different immigration centers in Louisiana and in Colorado.

A spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Reuters that the 25-day national quarantine began on March 7.

Earlier in January, the US treatment center ICE Pine Prairie, Louisiana had put hundreds of inmates in prison after the confirmation of four cases. According to internal emails, immigrants whose first diagnosis had been diagnosed had been transferred from the Tallahatchie County Correctional Center in Mississippi to central Louisiana.

A spokeswoman for the privately-owned Mississippi center said, however, that no one diagnosed with the diagnosis had been transferred to another facility. (LINK: Illegals present themselves at the border with decaying feet, diseases and fevers)

Pine Prairie Director Indalecio Ramos said that quarantining transfers from other institutions would prevent these people from attending their hearings, but many immigrants attended hearings by videoconference.

Patients wearing masks wait to be treated at Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City on April 28, 2009. Guatemala checks for signs of the flu in all travelers arriving from Mexico and stops people with symptoms of the flu. virus at the borders. REUTERS / Doriam Morales (GUATEMALA HEALTH) - GM1E54T0RMR02

Patients wearing masks are waiting to be welcomed at Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City on April 28, 2009 … REUTERS / Doriam Morales

Since January, the number of confirmed mumps cases in Pine Prairie has gone from four to 18. A spokesperson for the private company that runs the facility said that medical care is provided to inmates so that these can "detect, treat and follow appropriate medical protocols". to manage an infectious epidemic. "

In the last 12 months, 236 mumps cases have been confirmed in 51 detention centers. No mumps cases were reported in these facilities between January 2016 and February 2018. However, last year, 423 cases of influenza and 461 cases of chicken pox were recorded. (RELATED: DHS: Illegal arrivals should reach 1 million by the end of the year)

According to ICE, on March 6, more than 50,000 people were held in immigration centers across the country.

US Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters on Tuesday that the spread of the disease may be due to immigrants traveling long distances to the US-Mexico border with an immune system weakened. Border officers are also overwhelmed by the growing number of people trying to enter the country.

"We are seeing migrants arrive with diseases and health problems in unprecedented numbers," McAleenan said.

Mumps is a viral disease that can be spread by saliva particles in the air when they share close intimacy with an infected individual. Some people have no symptoms or no signs of illness. However, when symptoms occur, they include swollen glands, hearing loss, fever, headaches, and fatigue.

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