The City of El Paso Health Department reported 17 measles cases in the area on Thursday, including 13 at the Camp East Montana Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, which is outside the City’s jurisdiction.
The four community cases within the City of El Paso involve a male in his 20s, a male in his 30s, and two women in their 30s with unknown vaccination statuses.
The community cases aren’t connected to the cases at Camp East Montana, which is located on Fort Bliss.
El Paso officials said case information for this facility is reported through federal authorities. The City is sharing this information for regional awareness.
The City’s public health laboratory has provided testing support when requested and has supplied vaccine for administration by on-site health providers as part of prevention efforts.
Although approximately 98 percent of El Paso County residents are vaccinated against measles, public health officials remain concerned about unvaccinated or under-vaccinated pockets within the community. Individuals who are not fully vaccinated remain at the highest risk of infection.
Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) released the following statement in response to Camp East Montana:
“It should come as no surprise that there is a measles outbreak at Camp East Montana. This public health crisis is a direct result of the manner in which Acquisition Logistics operates the facility: an explicit effort to maximize profits at the expense of federal standards for services such as medical attention.
“Such an inexperienced, incompetent private prison corporation does not share our community’s interests or those of the detainees. For these reasons and more, I continue my calls for Camp East Montana to be shut down and Acquisition Logistics to be investigated.”
Earlier this month, two cases of tuberculosis and 18 cases of COVID-19 were identified at the ICE detention facility.