Thirteen measles cases have been reported at an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas, according to state and federal officials. The burst in infections comes as lawmakers cite increasing concerns about conditions inside such detention facilities nationwide.
Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said that 13 people held at the Camp East Montana detention facility just outside El Paso had contracted the disease. Those with infections were quarantined, and health care workers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement took steps to cease “all movement within the facility,” she added.
“Medical staff is continuing to monitor the detainees’ conditions and will take appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection,” Bis said. “All detainees are being provided with proper medical care.”
The Texas Department of Health confirmed that 17 measles cases overall have been reported in El Paso County this month.
Four of those cases in El Paso were confirmed by the city’s Department of Public Health, which said that the detention center was outside the city’s jurisdiction. Camp East Montana is a sprawling facility constructed last year on the Fort Bliss Army base to house thousands of detained immigrants.
Earlier this year, at least two measles cases were reported at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Dilley, Texas, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, and another measles case was confirmed at a detention center in Florence, Arizona.
Overall, measles cases have been rising nationwide for months. Last year, the United States reported more than 2,200 cases, the highest number since 1991, and 28 states have reported cases this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The highly contagious virus spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or breathes.
While most cases are mild, 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who contract the virus is hospitalized, and vaccination rates have been declining.
Certain regions of the country, including parts of West Texas, have vaccination rates far below the federal target of 95%.
But even beyond the measles cases, critics of the immigration detention facilities have said they are inhumane, with overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.
Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat who represents El Paso, said that the reports of measles cases at the detention facility “should come as no surprise.” She called its operator, Acquisition Logistics, “incompetent,” questioned whether it was meeting federal standards for services like medical attention and said that the company should be investigated.
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