A second federal inmate at Doña Ana County jail has tested positive for measles, bringing the total number of cases in the state to six so far this year, the New Mexico Department of Health announced Wednesday.
All six cases occurred in Southern New Mexico jails, with two each at jails in Doña Ana, Hidalgo and Luna counties.
While information about how federal inmates in local jails were exposed to measles remains scant, the affected facilities and state Health Department have implemented quarantine, isolation, testing and vaccination protocols to minimize the risk of spread.
Members of the public may also have been exposed to the most recent case of measles between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the federal courthouse at 100 N. Church St. in Las Cruces, the state Health Department warned.
“We understand this news may worry other inmates and their families, as well as our staff and their families,” Doña Ana County spokesperson Ariana Parra wrote in an email to The New Mexican. “We are committed to providing for the healthcare needs of all of our inmates and staff, to include any preventive care or treatment that might be needed from this incident.”
The state’s latest case of measles comes amid a nationwide surge in the virus. As of Feb. 26, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 1,100 confirmed cases of measles this year, with outbreaks ongoing in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah.
The CDC recorded more than 2,200 cases of measles in 2025 — the most in any single year since 1991. That figure includes an outbreak in New Mexico that caused one death, seven hospitalizations and 100 infections — including five in Santa Fe County.
The state Health Department has continued to urge New Mexico residents to get immunized against the measles. The measles, mumps and rubella — or MMR — vaccine is “the best tool to protect you from measles,” deputy state epidemiologist Chad Smelser said in a news release.
Sources unknown
So how did federal detainees in New Mexico jails contract the measles? It’s tough to say.
Robert Apodaca, warden of Luna County Detention Center, wrote in an email the two federal inmates with measles in his jail were “booked into our facility in early February following their arrest by Border Patrol.”
“During processing with Border Patrol they were exposed to another detainee who later tested positive for measles,” Apodaca added.
A spokesperson from U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests to confirm whether this exposure occurred in the agency’s custody.
Parra wrote in an email it is “not unusual” for the Doña Ana County jail to house federal detainees, but didn’t answer a question from The New Mexican about how inmates were originally exposed to the virus.
“Both inmates who tested positive were placed in isolation when symptoms were reported, prior to even testing for the measles,” Parra wrote. “Both have recovered since and are now out of isolation.”
Jail administrators in Hidalgo County did not respond to requests for comment on the facility’s measles cases.
Based on patient interviews and consultation with staff at both federal agencies and local detention centers, New Mexico Department of Health officials believe the sick inmates were exposed to measles out of state and federal agencies are aware of locations where exposures occurred, Smelser said in a statement.
“NMDOH expects federal agencies to implement the appropriate prevention and control measures to minimize further spread of measles,” he said.
And measles can spread easily in confined settings like jails.
Measles is one of the most infectious diseases known, Smelser said in a recent Q&A with The New Mexican. It can circulate in airborne particles or pass from person to person through direct contact.
“That then makes it a difficult virus to deal with in any setting, but especially in congregate settings where people are housed closely together,” Smelser said.
The coronavirus pandemic made it clear just how fast diseases can spread in jails, said Steven Allen, director of the New Mexico Prison and Jail Project, a nonprofit which brings civil rights claims on behalf of people incarcerated in the state.
Precautions like social distancing are “almost impossible” in confined spaces, where people have cell mates or live in dorms, Allen said. In the early days of the pandemic, his organization took calls from incarcerated people and their family members who voiced their fears about catching the disease in jails.
“When we talk about the spread of measles, it’s similar,” Allen said. “We know more about measles as a society than we did about COVID in the early days of the pandemic — but I can only imagine it being pretty scary as this sort of thing spreads.”
New Mexico Chief Public Defender Ben Baur put it simply: “People rarely leave jail in better shape than when they went in, and that can include being exposed to serious health hazards.”
Protocols to limit spread
Jail facilities and the state Health Department are working to limit the spread of the highly infectious virus following the confirmed measles cases.
The New Mexico Department of Health has sent vaccination teams to all three facilities with measles cases, in addition to coordinating with jail officials to ensure they are following proper quarantine, isolation, testing and vaccination protocols.
In Luna County, housing units affected by the measles cases have been placed under quarantine, while staff assigned to those units are required to wear personal protective equipment — including masks, gowns and gloves — Apodaca wrote in an email. Meals are delivered directly to quarantined units, and common areas are disinfected more frequently.
“Our medical staff is conducting daily health checks on both exposed and confirmed positive detainees to monitor for symptoms and ensure appropriate care,” Apodaca added.
Similar protocols — including isolation, enhanced sanitation and screening measures — are in place in the Doña Ana County jail, Parra wrote in an email. The jail is offering vaccines to staff and inmates.
“The safety and well-being of our staff and detainees remains our highest priority,” she said.