U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have placed 5,200 adults in quarantine for exposure to either chicken pox or mumps. The number represents a substantial increase from just a few months ago, when there were 2,287 detainees in quarantine, according to what agency officials tell CNN.
Officials explained that the agency has recorded cases of either disease in 39 detention centers nationwide, leaving around 4,200 people in quarantine for exposure to mumps, close to 800 for exposure to chicken pox, and 100 for exposure to both, according to estimates given to CNN.
"I think there is heightened interest in this situation because it's the mumps, which is a new occurrence in custody, but preventing the spread of communicable disease in ICE custody is something we have demonstrated success doing," Nathalie Asher, ICE executive associate director for enforcement and removal operations, said to CNN.
Asher continued to explain the impact that such a large-scale quarantine will have on organizational operations.
"From an operational perspective, the impact is significant in the short and long term and will result in an increase in cohorted detainees' length of stay in detention, an inability to effect removal of eligible cohorted detainees, and postponing scheduled consular interviews for quarantined detainees," she said.
Although the number of those quarantined is high, officials do not believe everyone who has been exposed is infected. But the action is taken in an abundance of caution, keeping individuals in quarantine for 25 days.
“Detainees in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody can come from countries where communicable diseases are less controlled than in the U.S., thus carrying with them the risk of spreading infection," Brendan Raedy, an ICE spokesman, told Quartz. "Because of this risk factor, ICE takes precautionary measures to mitigate potential exposure to others in the US, including those in ICE custody."
The Center for Disease Control describes mumps as a contagious but fairly mild disease, with cases rarely leading to death. However, infection can lead to long-term problems, such as loss of hearing and swelling in the breasts, ovaries, testicles, brain and spinal cord.
