Number
of California inmates observed for Legionnaires' disease jumps
Send a link to a friend
[September 02, 2015] SACRAMENTO,
Calif. (Reuters) - The number of inmates being observed for possible
infection with Legionnaires' disease at San Quentin State Prison near
San Francisco has jumped from 71 to 85, but the number of confirmed
diagnoses held steady at six, authorities said Tuesday.
|
Prison authorities said they have begun restoring some freedom of
movement, as well as access to the law library and hot meals to
inmates at the California prison who were put on lockdown to avoid
infection when the outbreak began last week.
The disease, a sometimes deadly form of pneumonia caused by a
bacterium found in water systems, is transmitted when people breathe
it in via steam, mist and moisture in the air. For that reason,
prison officials initially shut down the plumbing in the prison,
which houses 3,700 inmates and has 1,800 employees.
On Tuesday, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations said
in a news release that it would begin serving some hot meals at the
prison after days of serving only boxed meals.
Late last week, officials brought in portable showers for inmates to
use, but those on San Quentin's death row, among others, did not
have access to them. On Tuesday, officials said they were working to
provide access to the showers for those inmates.
[to top of second column] |
Legionnaires' disease in Illinois killed four people and sickened 29
at Illinois Veterans Home at Quincy, the Quincy Herald-Whig
newspaper reported on Monday, and a dozen people died in a recent
outbreak in New York City.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|