A Guatemalan girl in the custody of the Yuma Sector Border Patrol was diagnosed with measles on Wednesday.

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol claimed that the girl, 8, and her father were part of a group of 39 people who illegally crossed the Colorado River near Yuma at County 9th Street in Arizona.

The group surrendered when border patrol agents determined that they were illegal immigrants travelling from Guatemala and Honduras.

A Guatemalan girl in the custody of the Yuma Sector Border Patrol was diagnosed with measles on Wednesday. A group of people forming part of the migrant caravan walk on their journey to the Guatemalan border of Agua Caliente, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras

A Guatemalan girl in the custody of the Yuma Sector Border Patrol was diagnosed with measles on Wednesday. Pictured is a computer illustration of the measles virus

It was determined the young girl had measles after she was medically screened.

Authorities claimed that no one else in the group was diagnosed with the illness.

The child and her father were quarantined from the other detainees, and the Yuma County Health Department was notified per protocol.

The Yuma Sector said they are currently at more than double the recommended detention capacity with more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in their custody.

It is not known if the girl contracted the virus upon her arrival in Yuma or whether she would have been exposed to it before the group made their illegal crossing.

It comes amid a recent surge in cases of measles in states across the U.S. Data released earlier this month shows that between January 1 and April 11, officials confirmed 55 individual cases of measles.

The figure is nearly 200 more cases than were seen in all of 2018 and the most reported in a year since 2014. Measles is a highly infectious itchy rash with a fever and it mainly affects children.

The mayor of Yuma, Arizona, has declared a state of emergency to deal with the number of illegal migrants being released from Border Patrol custody into the city

Outbreaks are currently ongoing in four states: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and California.The spread of measles within the U.S. in recent months tracks with outbreaks around the globe, according to data from the World Health Organization.

The news also comes a day after the mayor of Yuma, Arizona, has declared a state of emergency to deal with the number of illegal migrants being released from Border Patrol custody into the city.

Mayor Douglas Nicholls, a Republican, said on Tuesday that he hoped not to get to this point but that organizations helping immigrant families just don't have capacity to deal with so many.

The news comes amid a recent surge in cases of measles in states across the U.S. Data released earlier this month shows that between January 1 and April 11, officials confirmed 55 individual cases of measles

He called on the federal government to send resources, suggesting a FEMA response. The state of emergency doesn't actually allocate any funds but calls on the federal government to help.

'This isn't a natural disaster but it is a disaster either way,' said Nicholls, a Republican. 'Their resources could come in and effectively handle that.'

Yuma has opened an an emergency shelter that can hold 150 people, and Nicholls said that in the past three weeks, at least 1,300 migrants had been released into the city's shelter system.

Struggling agencies have tried to help the migrants continue to their intended destinations. On Tuesday, there were 200 immigrants at the shelter and more were expected, Nicholls said.

A CBP chart shows southern border apprehensions annually from 2014 to 2019. Current year apprehensions since October 1 are seen in black

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said that on Tuesday alone, more than 400 illegal migrants were detained in Yuma sector, with most of them family units that would be quickly released.

Nicholls said he feared some immigrants would wind up on the street if there wasn't enough room for them at the shelter.

Border cities have seen a large number of immigrant families from Central America being dropped off by immigration authorities who don't have the resources to process them.

Immigration authorities saw about 100,000 people come through the border illegally in March and say they're on pace to arrest a million by the end of the year.

In the Yuma area, Border Patrol officials have seen a staggering number of immigrant families who show up at the border and turn themselves in. Most are from Guatemala, and many are seeking asylum.

Many cross in large groups and immediately surrender to Border Patrol, likely having been told by smugglers that they will be quickly released into the U.S. interior.