A measles outbreak has reached the Luna County Detention Center in Deming, New Mexico, marking the first confirmed cases in the area amid a broader surge across the state. Health officials are racing to contain the spread within the facility and the local community. Luna County Manager Chris Brice says the five infected inmates are all men and their vaccination statuses are unknown, the Albuquerque Journal reports. The facility holds around 400 inmates and has around 100 employees, reports the AP. Measles has been detected in the city's wastewater but no cases outside the jail have been confirmed.
Brice says the inmates are being quarantined in two pods, each with the capacity to hold 40 people. Two pregnant employees have been moved to other local offices. "We're trying to do our best to keep everybody isolated until we can see what's going to happen next," he says. The facility has canceled all in-person visits and court appearances have been shifted to video. Brice says the detention center has asked US Marshals and local law enforcement to write citations whenever possible instead of bringing more inmates to the facility.
The Journal reports that if the inmates need to be released, the facility will have to be released—and since all five are federal detainees, the facility will not have prior notice of orders to release them. The state health department plans to offer vaccination clinics at the detention center. "We can't force inmates or employees to do vaccinations, but we highly encourage them," Brice says. New Mexico now has 86 confirmed measles cases in an outbreak connected to the larger outbreak across the state border in Texas.
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