A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that nearly 900 people over the last year have been exposed to mumps while being held in detention facilities across the US. The disease hasn’t been a problem for a while, not since the introduction of the MMR vaccine. Before that, mumps was common in children. It’s a contagious disease that causes painful swelling of the parotid glands (large salivary glands at the sides of the face) as well as headaches, joint pain, and fever.
To be exact, a total of 898 cases in adult immigrants have been reported in 57 immigration detention facilities across 19 states between September 1, 2018, and August 22, 2019. In addition, 33 staff members at detention facilities have also been infected with the disease. Almost half (400) of these cases took place in detention facilities in Texas because of an outbreak that occurred in one center but then spread between two detention centers there.
Although the disease is not life-threatening, it can lead to serious complications. For example, viral meningitis – when the virus moves into the outer layer of the brain; and orchitis – inflammation of the testicles which can go on to cause infertility. Among the hundreds of cases of infected immigrants, the CDC found that 15% of male patients went on to develop orchitis, while at least 13 patients were hospitalized.
How do outbreaks occur? Commonly among groups of people who have prolonged, close contact with people who have mumps. Usually, that involves the sharing of water bottles or very confined living conditions.
The report found that only 5% of the patients were actually exposed to the disease before being apprehended by the authorities, while 758 of the patients were exposed to the disease while in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or another US agency.
Nashville immigration attorney R. Andrew Free, who has been tracking mumps outbreaks at the facilities, told the Associated Press:
This has all the makings of a public health crisis. ICE has demonstrated itself incapable of ensuring the health and safety of people inside these facilities.
The horribly cramped conditions combined with poor hygiene made for easy transfer of the disease among the people within confinement. The conditions in these facilities have been a subject of concern for quite some time already. The Department of Homeland Security has even issued a warning of “dangerous overcrowding” observed during unannounced inspections of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) holding and detention facilities.
The Department of Homeland Security said of one inspection of the El Paso Del Norte Processing Center:
[we] observed detainees standing on toilets in the cells to make room and gain breathing space, thus limiting access to the toilets. Border Patrol agents said detainees who were not ill were raising medical complaints to obtain temporary release from the cells, adding to the medical staff’s burden.
To avoid contracting the disease, the CDC recommends washing hands frequently with soap and water and staying away from others if you’re infected to minimize the chance of spreading the disease. However, other inspections have found “children… held for weeks in deplorable conditions, without access to soap, clean water, showers, clean clothing, toilets, toothbrushes, adequate nutrition or adequate sleep.”
The CDC concludes that the outbreak is far from over:
As of August 22, 2019, mumps outbreaks are ongoing in 15 facilities in seven states. New introductions into detention facilities through detainees who are transferred or exposed before being taken into custody continue to occur.
