Swine flu outbreak reported at South Miami-Dade prison
BY FRED TASKER
ftasker@MiamiHerald.com
Thirteen female inmates in the women's dorm at the Homestead Correctional Institute have been confirmed with swine flu (H1N1), and one has been hospitalized, health officials said Friday.
The cases were confirmed between June 19 and Thursday, said Dr. Fermen Leguen, epidemiologist for the Miami-Dade Health Department. Most of the cases are mild, he said.
Social visits have been suspended, and dormitories with confirmed cases have been quarantined, preventing residents from mixing with those from other dorms, according to Jo Ellyn Rackleff, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
The facility was built in 1976 or house minimum and medium security male inmates, but turned into a female facility in 1999 for those in minimum and medium security inmates.
Maximum capacity for the facility is listed on its website as 668; the website says the current population is 678.
Inmates are serving terms for such felonies as grand theft, credit card fraud, aggravated battery, second-degree murder and cocaine sale.
Meanwhile at Krome Detention Facility in West Dade, where visitations have been suspended since several swine flu cases were confirmed June 12. one more case -- that of a staff member -- was confirmed Friday, bringing the total confirmed cases there to six. An additional 20 detainees had or have flu-like symptoms at Krome, but cannot be tested for swine flu because they have been given antiviral medicine, which invalidates such testing.
Family visits remain suspended at Krome, and no new detainees are being taken in or released.
Officials of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say flu cases are likelier in such institutional settings as prisons, schools and college dorms because those who live there are in close proximity.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1115705.html
BY FRED TASKER
ftasker@MiamiHerald.com
Thirteen female inmates in the women's dorm at the Homestead Correctional Institute have been confirmed with swine flu (H1N1), and one has been hospitalized, health officials said Friday.
The cases were confirmed between June 19 and Thursday, said Dr. Fermen Leguen, epidemiologist for the Miami-Dade Health Department. Most of the cases are mild, he said.
Social visits have been suspended, and dormitories with confirmed cases have been quarantined, preventing residents from mixing with those from other dorms, according to Jo Ellyn Rackleff, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
The facility was built in 1976 or house minimum and medium security male inmates, but turned into a female facility in 1999 for those in minimum and medium security inmates.
Maximum capacity for the facility is listed on its website as 668; the website says the current population is 678.
Inmates are serving terms for such felonies as grand theft, credit card fraud, aggravated battery, second-degree murder and cocaine sale.
Meanwhile at Krome Detention Facility in West Dade, where visitations have been suspended since several swine flu cases were confirmed June 12. one more case -- that of a staff member -- was confirmed Friday, bringing the total confirmed cases there to six. An additional 20 detainees had or have flu-like symptoms at Krome, but cannot be tested for swine flu because they have been given antiviral medicine, which invalidates such testing.
Family visits remain suspended at Krome, and no new detainees are being taken in or released.
Officials of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say flu cases are likelier in such institutional settings as prisons, schools and college dorms because those who live there are in close proximity.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1115705.html