Ilhan Omar Implies That Americans Are Infecting Immigrants With Mumps

Rep. Omar's tweet was made in response to this tweet from AP Health & Science regarding mumps outbreaks at detention facilities:

Unfortunately, Omar's claim that it is legal U.S. citizens transmitting mumps to illegal aliens just is not backed up by science.

As these Twitter users pointed out:

Other patriots on Twitter spoke up to call out Omar's leap from one faulty claim to the next, pointing out the error in Omar's call to abolish ICE:

For some background, Associated Press gave these details on the mumps outbreak at detention centers:

Mumps has swept through 57 immigration detention facilities in 19 states since September, according to the first U.S. government report on the outbreaks in the overloaded immigration system.

The virus sickened 898 adult migrants and 33 detention center staffers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its report Thursday.

New cases continue as migrants are taken into custody or transferred between facilities, the report said. As of last week, outbreaks were happening in 15 facilities in seven states.

In response to the report, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox said medical professionals at detention facilities screen all new detainees within 24 hours of their arrival to ensure that highly contagious diseases are not spread.

Cox said some detainees come from countries where communicable diseases are less controlled than in the U.S. and carry with them the risk of spreading infection.

The CDC report said more than 80% of patients were exposed while in custody. Mumps is a contagious virus that causes swollen glands, puffy cheeks, fever, headaches and, in severe cases, hearing loss and meningitis.

In the U.S., vaccines have drastically reduced the number of mumps cases. Only a few hundred cases are reported most years, with periodic outbreaks involving colleges or other places where people are in close contact.

In the migrant center outbreaks, at least 13 people were hospitalized, the CDC reported.

CNBC shared this additional information:

Nearly 900 migrants being held in U.S. custody contracted mumps at holding centers in the past year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.

From Sept. 1, 2018 to Aug. 22, 2019, the U.S. reported 899 confirmed and possible mumps cases in adults across 57 holding facilities. An additional 33 staff members contracted the preventable virus as well. It’s the first time a mumps outbreak has been reported in detention facilities, the CDC said. 

Eighty four percent of the patients infected were exposed to mumps while in U.S. facilities, the CDC reported. Only 5% were exposed before being apprehended, the organization added. 

 “This mumps outbreak really is just a red flag that shows us that these facilities present a risk for spreading a number of infectious diseases,” University of Washington professor Dr. Jeffrey Duchin said. 

The United States over the past year has seen an influx of people crossing the southern border, seeking relief from their home countries. From October through July, nearly 259,000 single adults and 433,000  “family units” were apprehended at the Southwest border, leading to overcrowded facilities.