LANSING — Four housing units at a state prison in Muskegon are under quarantine due to a scabies outbreak, a Michigan Department of Corrections official confirmed June 1.
Jenni Riehle said the department has diagnosed 15 cases of scabies at Muskegon Correctional Facility after the contagious skin infestation was first reported there May 26.
Scabies, caused by tiny mites, can result in intense itching and a pimple-like rash. It can spread easily through person-to-person contact, or through contact with bedding, towels or clothing used by an infected person.
“Individuals who have been diagnosed with scabies are placed in medical isolation for at least 24 hours to be treated and have received clean linen and clothing changes,” Riehle said in an email.
“For all diagnosed prisoners, or those determined a close contact or part of mass treatment, the facility is laundering bedding and clothing at high temperatures, sealing personal property that can’t be washed, and cleaning hard surfaces.”
Riehle said visits are suspended for four of the six housing units at the Muskegon prison. Family members and loved ones can check the quarantine status of the Muskegon housing units on the MDOC website, she said.
The MDOC has also temporarily paused transfers of inmates in and out of the prison, and “enhanced health surveillance is being conducted with close monitoring of new rashes or itching,” she said.
In 2019, the MDOC took the extraordinary step of treating all 2,000 inmates at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility for scabies after an outbreak there went undiagnosed for more than a year. A federal lawsuit over the MDOC’s handling of that outbreak continues.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Scabies outbreak at Muskegon prison prompts inmate quarantine
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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