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County confirms a dozen new flu cases at San Diego migrant shelter

The County has identified 47 people with flu symptoms and "influenza-like illness" since the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security began transporting asylum seekers.

SAN DIEGO — County health officials Wednesday announced the confirmation of a dozen new cases of influenza among asylum seekers who have been flown to San Diego from Texas' Rio Grande Valley.

The county's Health and Human Services Agency has identified a total of 47 people with flu symptoms and "influenza-like illness" since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began transporting asylum seekers to San Diego on May 19. To date, nearly 300 people at a migrant shelter in Bankers Hill operated by Jewish Family Service of San Diego have received a health screening.

The number of new cases is the largest since Friday, when health officials confirmed 13 new flu cases at the shelter. The county confirmed two cases on Saturday, one on Sunday and three on Monday.

In addition, 15 asylum seekers who have tested positive for the flu have been quarantined in hotel rooms as the county tries to stave off more cases. Only one person at the shelter has been hospitalized with flu symptoms since the county began tracking the outbreak on Thursday.

DHS officials and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the plan to begin flying detained asylum seekers from Texas to San Diego on May 17. Federal immigration authorities are operating 10 jets between San Diego and Texas, with roughly 130 people aboard each flight. DHS officials said they aim to charter three flights a week to San Diego International Airport, from which the asylum seekers will be moved to local CBP processing stations like Brown Field.

RELATED: Migrant families quarantined at San Diego hotels

The transportation is necessary, according to federal immigration authorities, because CBP facilities are largely overwhelmed with new detainees, many of them families and children requesting asylum. CBP agents have detained an average of 4,500 migrants at the border each day this year.

The agency is currently holding about 8,000 people at its detention facility in McAllen, Texas, two times the agency's maximum capacity in the area. CBP agents temporarily closed processing operations at the facility last week among a flu outbreak of its own, which has resulted in the death of a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy. Roughly three dozen immigrants and asylum seekers at the facility are currently quarantined, the Washington Post reported.

RELATED: Fourth plane of migrants who entered the US illegally in Texas arrives in San Diego

San Diego County health officials define a flu outbreak as one person being diagnosed with the virus and a second person contracting and developing the disease within 72 hours. The county said it plans to continue monitoring the situation and providing updates on new flu cases at the shelter. 

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