New Jersey

New Jersey County Jail Locked Down Amid Mumps Outbreak

There's a "nobody in, nobody out" policy at this time, including for unvaccinated guards, the county executive tells News 4

What to Know

  • The Bergen County jail is on lockdown amid a possible measles outbreak among several prisons
  • There's a "nobody in, nobody out" policy at this time, including for unvaccinated guards, the county executive tells News 4
  • The mumps diagnosis comes from a doctor’s clinical observation, but officials are awaiting test results to confirm the doctor’s belief

A mumps outbreak among five inmates at New Jersey's Bergen County jail has led to a lockdown of the facility, according to officials.

A quarantine was in effect at the jail at 3 p.m., meaning no new inmates are being accepted, no current inmates are being released or allowed to go to court — even correction officers who have not been vaccinated are not permitted to enter or leave the premises, the county executive told News 4.

No staff has shown any signs or symptoms of infection.

The jail is holding more than 100 inmates detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the southern U.S. border. They would not be allowed to go to any hearings while the lockdown is in place.

ICE told News 4 that those in quarantine are under restricted movement for 25 days after the most recent case.

More than 1,000 doses of the MMR shot, the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, have been ordered expedited by the jail.

Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco said Tuesday that the mumps diagnosis comes from a doctor's clinical observation and that mumps outbreaks are not uncommon in a jail setting.

Tedesco said authorities are now working on short- and long-term plans to deal with the situation, including deciding how to handle any unvaccinated guards who are stuck at the jail or could have been exposed during an earlier shift.

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