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Source: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/...ve-contracted-mumps-since-outbreak-last-fall/
Nearly 300 Immigrants In Texas Detention Facilities Have Contracted Mumps Since Outbreak Last Fall
After reports of an outbreak surfaced in January, officials have still not controlled the spread of mumps in immigration facilities across the state.
Elizabeth Trovall | Posted on May 30, 2019, 12:01 PM
Reports from the Texas Department of State Health Services show 167 mumps cases have been detected in federal immigrant detention facilities in 2019 so far.
That?s in addition to the 117 cases recorded from October 1 through the end of 2018, making for a total of 284 cases stemming from an outbreak last fall.
And the numbers keep climbing.
Information requested by Houston Public Media from the Texas Department of State Health Services show that on May 9, 2019, a total of 159 cases were reported for the year. On May 22, that count increased to 167 cases.
?To have this many cases concentrated in this relatively small population is distinctly unusual in the United States,? said Dr. Jody Rich, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Brown University.
A majority of these cases were identified in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities in South Texas and Houston.
The El Valle Detention Facility saw 55 confirmed and probable mumps cases in 2018, according to ICE data obtained by Houston Public Media through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Another detention facility in north Houston saw 15 cases this year, as of April 2019. A detention center in Pearsall had 28 cases in the same time frame.
Rich said he thinks immigration authorities should be vaccinating immigrants to stop the spread of mumps, which is highly contagious...
Nearly 300 Immigrants In Texas Detention Facilities Have Contracted Mumps Since Outbreak Last Fall
After reports of an outbreak surfaced in January, officials have still not controlled the spread of mumps in immigration facilities across the state.
Elizabeth Trovall | Posted on May 30, 2019, 12:01 PM
Reports from the Texas Department of State Health Services show 167 mumps cases have been detected in federal immigrant detention facilities in 2019 so far.
That?s in addition to the 117 cases recorded from October 1 through the end of 2018, making for a total of 284 cases stemming from an outbreak last fall.
And the numbers keep climbing.
Information requested by Houston Public Media from the Texas Department of State Health Services show that on May 9, 2019, a total of 159 cases were reported for the year. On May 22, that count increased to 167 cases.
?To have this many cases concentrated in this relatively small population is distinctly unusual in the United States,? said Dr. Jody Rich, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Brown University.
A majority of these cases were identified in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities in South Texas and Houston.
The El Valle Detention Facility saw 55 confirmed and probable mumps cases in 2018, according to ICE data obtained by Houston Public Media through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Another detention facility in north Houston saw 15 cases this year, as of April 2019. A detention center in Pearsall had 28 cases in the same time frame.
Rich said he thinks immigration authorities should be vaccinating immigrants to stop the spread of mumps, which is highly contagious...