Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he first received a report of the communicable health outbreaks at the Manston immigration centre; and what steps his Department took to respond to these reports.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) was informed of multiple cases of diarrhoea and vomiting in Manston on 7 September 2022, which was later confirmed to be due to infection with Shigella bacteria. While there is also a cluster of diphtheria cases linked to the Manston centre, it is not classed as an outbreak as there is currently no evidence of transmission in the setting. Such cases are more likely to have been acquired prior to arrival. The UKHSA was notified of the first confirmed case on 15 October 2022.

The UKHSA undertook a risk assessment and chaired incident management team meetings of local partners to coordinate the responses. This included making recommendations regarding testing, infection prevention and control, cleaning, isolation or cohorting of people and treatment and immunisation in line with existing guidance. The UKHSA has established a national incident response to address the cluster of diphtheria cases and wider health protection issues in asylum accommodation settings.