Mumps renders hundreds of migrants in detention sick in 19 states



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Mumps has swept 57 immigration detention centers in 19 states since September, according to the US government's first report on epidemics in the overburdened immigration system.

The virus has made 898 migrant adults and 33 detention center staff sick, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.

New cases continue as migrants are arrested or transferred between centers, the report said. Last week, epidemics occurred in 15 institutions in seven states.

In response to the report, Immigration and Customs spokesman Bryan Cox said that health care professionals working in detention centers are checking all new detainees within 24 hours of their arrival for s & D. To ensure that highly contagious diseases do not spread.

Cox said some inmates came from countries where communicable diseases are less controlled than in the United States and carry a risk of spreading the infection.

The CDC report indicates that more than 80% of patients have been exposed to detention. Mumps is a contagious virus that causes swollen glands, swollen cheeks, fever, headaches and, in severe cases, hearing loss and meningitis.

In the United States, vaccines have significantly reduced the number of mumps cases. Only a few hundred cases are reported in most years, with periodic outbreaks involving colleges or other places where people are in close contact.

At least 13 people have been hospitalized in migrant homes, the CDC reported.

A lot of the cases have been in Texas. Texas State Department health services sounded the alarm in December, followed by six other health departments in early January, prompting what the CDC report calls "a coordinated national response to the outbreak". # 39; epidemic. "

ICE administered more than 25,000 doses of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to affected facilities.

The CDC has not identified the detention centers, but said that 34 of them are run by private companies. According to the newspaper, migrants were detained in 315 facilities in mid-August.

Nashville Immigration Lawyer, R. Andrew Free, spotted establishments with mumps outbreaks from reports of attorneys and attorneys representing inmates.

"This has all the qualities of a public health crisis," said Free. "ICE has been unable to ensure the health and safety of people inside these facilities."

An influx of migrants to the US-Mexico border earlier this year has taxed the immigration system. The CDC report only dealt with mumps, not other health problems in detention centers. At least two migrant children died of the flu after being arrested by the US Border Patrol.

According to the CDC report, detention centers should follow the guidelines of state and local health departments when responding to mumps.

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Follow Carla K. Johnson, AP Medical Site Editor on Twitter: @CarlaKJohnson

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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