BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) –It’s not the measles, but another childhood disease that had nearly been wiped out has appeared in several inmates at the Calhoun County Jail.
Jail officials say they have had an outbreak of the mumps. They have isolated the inmates that have been diagnosed with the viral infection to keep it from spreading to others in the jail, and so far that effort appears to have been successful with no new cases reported.
The Calhoun County Health Department’s Dr. William Nettleton says they haven’t seen any cases yet outside the jail. It can be spread through the air or by sharing utensils or cups.
They symptoms are flu like with the addition of swollen glands under the jaw. Other inmates and staff who had not been vaccinated for mumps before have been vaccinated now.
It appears an ICE detainee from Guatamala was “patient zero” who had been transferred between the Monroe County Jail and the Calhoun County lockup. They are also dealing with a similar outbreak at the Monroe County facility.
Health officials have put those infected into quarantine in an attempt to keep the infection from leaving the jails.
