Mumps found in 57 migrant lockups

Mumps has swept through 57 immigration detention facilities in 19 states since September, according to the first U.S. government report on the outbreaks in the overloaded immigration system.

The virus infected 898 adult migrants and 33 detention center staff members, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its report Thursday.

New cases continue as migrants are taken into custody or transferred between facilities, the report said. As of last week, outbreaks were happening in 15 facilities in seven states.

In response to the report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox said medical professionals at detention facilities screen all new detainees within 24 hours of their arrival to ensure that highly contagious diseases are not spread.

The CDC report said more than 80% of patients were exposed while in custody. Mumps is a contagious virus that causes swollen glands, puffy cheeks, fever, headaches and, in severe cases, hearing loss and meningitis.

In the migrant center outbreaks, at least 13 people were hospitalized, the CDC reported.

The Texas Department of State Health Services raised the alarm in December, followed by six other state health departments in early January, prompting what the CDC report calls “a coordinated national outbreak response.”

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has given more than 25,000 doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine in the affected facilities.

The CDC did not identify detention facilities, but said 34 of them are operated by private companies. The report said migrants were being held in 315 facilities in mid-August.