SICK

Seven Detainees in Houston ICE Facility Have Mumps, Health Officials Say

Houston health officials said they don’t think the disease has spread outside the detention facility.

Seven adults detained at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Houston have mumps, officials said. The Houston Health Department, which announced the mumps cases on Saturday, said that it didn’t appear that the disease had spread outside the facility. “Since these individuals were isolated inside the facility during the period they were infectious, we do not anticipate these cases posing a threat to the community,” Dr. David Persse, Houston’s local health authority and EMS medical director, said in a statement. Health officials said they are “working with the facility on infection control methods and will conduct an on-site visit in the coming days.” Mumps, which is caused by a virus, tends to start with several days of fever and fatigue, as well as muscle and headaches. The early symptoms are followed by “swollen salivary glands.” Mumps is a preventable disease when a person is given two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. Mumps outbreaks are rare, but there have been some incidents in Texas, including around Houston, officials said.

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