Since September 2018, nearly 900 migrants arriving at the United States-Mexico border have been confirmed or suspected to have mumps, a federal report reveals.
A report by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) details how the contagious mumps disease has spread across 19 states in 57 detention facilities among migrants — those illegally crossing the southern border and those seeking asylum.
Between September 2018 and August 2019, about 898 cases of migrants who had arrived to the U.S. and were in federal detention were reported to have mumps. Another 33 cases of mumps were reported among staff members at the various detention facilities.
Roughly 44 percent of the cases reported occurred in detention facilities located in Texas while the average age of a migrant with mumps was 25 years-old and 94 percent were male migrants.
CDC officials state that the disease has largely spread to other migrants while in detention with 84 percent of cases reported having been likely contracted while in federal custody and five percent having been likely contracted before the migrant was apprehended by federal officials. – READ MORE