Following the recent announcement from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of a confirmed mumps case at the Chase County detention facility, a second confirmed case has now been reported.
The second case was confirmed late Monday afternoon and the individual is currently in medical isolation and will remain there until Friday according to ICE. Confirmation of the first case came between June 18 and July 1. Following the original discovery, 22 detainees at the facility were “cohorted,” or separated in the Chase County Jail as they either had contact with the infected detainee or may have had contact.
According to the news release, “since all those exposed to the first case were vaccinated for the illness when the initial case was reported, the cohort will not need to be extended.”
Mumps is a contagious viral disease that is preventable with vaccinations. Symptoms include puffy cheeks, a swollen jaw, fever, headache and muscle aches. Symptoms can last nearly a month after infection.
Mumps in prisons or detention facilities is becoming a more widely known issue. ICE has had to quarantine some 5,200 migrants at nearly 40 detention centers, according to the Washington Post. ICE says the developments in Chase County are an isolated case and not related to the nationwide situation.
The Chase County Jail has been an ICE detention center since 2008. Its current jail roster has around 135 inmates, of which around 100 are ICE detainees.