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How government lapses delayed a response to a meas | RSS.com<\/a><\/p>\n Diego Mendoza-Moyers: Today, we\u2019re talking about measles and an alarming lack of government coordination to contain the spread of the infectious disease in El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n After we\u2019ve seen multiple measles outbreaks in West Texas since last year \u2013 tied in part to federal migrant detention centers \u2013 unearthed emails show how public health officials at different levels of government were flying blind when it came to containing measles in El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some ambulance drivers were unaware of their passenger patient\u2019s measles status, while local public health officials said the federal government hasn\u2019t been routinely sharing medical information about migrant detainees.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to talk with El Paso Matters health reporter Priscilla Totiyapungprasert about her detailed reporting on the breakdown in processes meant to contain the spread of measles in El Paso.\u00a0<\/p>\n But first, this El Paso Matters Podcast episode is brought to you by our podcast title sponsor, Tawney, Acosta and Chaparro, Truck Crash and Injury Attorneys. Their team of local, seasoned trial attorneys are ready to help if you\u2019ve been injured in a crash.\u00a0<\/p>\n And you can sign up for El Paso Matters\u2019 newsletter<\/a> and read our free reporting at our website, elpasomatters.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla, I appreciate you joining me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla Totiyapungprasert: Thanks for having me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: So, you wrote a very in-depth and detailed story describing multiple instances of breakdowns in tracing and communication about several different measles cases in the El Paso area. And, so, I want to get all into that, but can you just start off by telling us how you got turned onto this story and how you got started reporting?\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla: So, I started reporting on measles last year. If you recall, that was actually our first podcast together. There was that big outbreak that was happening, and this is our second outbreak in two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n And when we found out from the city that there were measles cases again, at the time the city told us that those cases were not tied to Camp East Montana. And I thought that was curious, because a lot of the cases at the time appeared to be happening at Camp East Montana.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: How measles reporting gaps by ICE, hospital delayed El Paso\u2019s response to outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n Diego: And Camp East Montana is a migrant detention facility in East El Paso County.\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla: Yes. And then, later in March, early March, we find out that there\u2019s more measles cases. So, out of curiosity, I wanted to know how was El Paso responding to the outbreak? What was going on behind the scenes? So, I made a records request for emails.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: And the emails showed a lot of communication breakdowns and questions and confusion, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla: Yeah, the emails were enlightening. There were hundreds of pages that I went through and going through all the back and forth communication, I was putting together this timeline and it showed a breakdown in communication across various entities.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, when you have a measles response, there are a lot of players involved. There\u2019s the local hospitals, there\u2019s the health department. And in this case, there were federal detainees. So, there\u2019s a lot of jurisdictions involved with this. And, so, the email showed a lot of communication happening across various stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: Yeah, so just kind of walk through your reporting and what you found? You really highlighted several different scenarios of cases and different government entities confused over whose responsibility it is and just everything. So, talk us through your story and the different scenarios you uncovered, I guess.\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla: So, with the first patient, we saw that they were transferred to Del Sol Medical Center. And it appeared, based on the summary emails within the health department, that this person was not isolated for a period of time while they were getting tested and they were waiting for results. And it looks like the Del Sol Medical Center also did not notify the health department. The health department found out through the state. And, so, this person was in a hospital, partly not isolated, for two nights before the city found out and could begin contact tracing. And the city ended up doing their own testing. So, there was that issue.<\/p>\n And then, at that time, when the city found out that patient tested positive for measles, there was another patient who was also tested that day. This one was at (University Medical Center of El Paso) where they did do a protocol or were put in isolation. And this is where the timeline gets kind of hazy, because for contact tracing, the city\u2019s epidemiologist, they need all information. They need to know like, where was this person? Who did they expose? Like, where were they? And this person, their rash onset was February 7. And with measles, when you have a rash onset, you\u2019re contagious four days before and four days after. They were not in the hospital until February 11th. So, my question was, where were they between February 7th and February 11th?\u00a0<\/p>\n And that\u2019s where you kind of start getting this piecemeal information coming in, that they may have been at the downtown jail, that they may have exposed people at the court, that they were at Camp East, Montana, but which days? It\u2019s not 100% certain. So this kind of shows that the health department didn\u2019t have very certain, 100% information.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: And part of the problem was that the federal government itself isn\u2019t really effectively tracking who\u2019s coming in and out of the various detention facilities, where they\u2019re coming from, where they\u2019re going. There\u2019s just kind of an absence of information about the detainees. Is that right?\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla: That\u2019s what the emails show from the health officials, that there were questions internally about what\u2019s the vaccination status? And there was a deputy health director who said they don\u2019t have information on the ins and outs and that the federal authorities don\u2019t know who\u2019s coming in and out, how many people are there. They\u2019re not routinely getting this information. They don\u2019t know the vaccination status of people who are exposed, of the detainees themselves. That kind of makes it \u2013 not kind of, but it does make it hard for the health official to do their job.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: So, OK \u2013 just to back up a little bit. Why are these detention facilities some of the hubs, I guess, of measles outbreaks or measles cases? What is it about these facilities? Who\u2019s there and why is this where the source of measles is coming from?\u00a0<\/p>\n Priscilla: So, when people are under federal custody, immigrants, they tend to transfer between different facilities. So, you have a lot of movement going back and forth. You are first detained, you\u2019re in a holding facility where you\u2019re being processed, you might go to Camp East Montana. You also have people coming from Minnesota, for example, coming into El Paso to go to Camp East Montana, and you\u2019re transferred to outside facilities, outside of the state even including the Sierra Blanca facility where most of the cases are. There were more than 130 cases reported so far at the Sierra Blanca facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n And then these are congregate settings, so hundreds of people living in close confinement together. So, this is a kind of a very ripe area for disease outbreak.\u00a0<\/p>\n