Legionnaires' outbreak at Florida prison adds 5 cases -- and now they have scabies, too

Feb. 11--The Central Florida federal prison in the midst of a Legionnaires' Disease outbreak has five more cases, and at least one case of scabies, too. But state health officials won't talk about what they're doing to alleviate the public health issue.

Over the past two weeks, officials with the Coleman Federal Correctional Institution complex near Wildwood issued incremental responses to scores of health complaints, eventually illuminating an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease, a lung infection caused by breathing in water that contains legionella bacteria.

On Tuesday, prison officials confirmed five more cases, bringing the total to 23, as well as an additional health concern: at least one case of scabies, a skin infestation caused by mites.

Those with loved ones inside a women's camp in the federal prison complex -- the center of the outbreak -- were already reeling from allegations of rampant sexual abuse and retaliation at the prison. Inmates at the facility say the testing has not been comprehensive and the conditions there are abhorrent.

Paul Forkner, whose daughter is incarcerated at the women's camp, heard from her on Tuesday. According to Forkner, she estimated that about 265 of the roughly 400 women in the camp had not yet been tested. Prison staff's priority, she said, was waxing the floor of the medical unit in preparation for a visit from regional staff.

Such clusters of Legionnaire's Disease cases are unusual, as the cases typically pop up for one or two individuals, epidemiologists said on Tuesday. The fact that so many cases were confirmed in a prison is troubling, as the bacteria that causes the disease -- legionella -- could still be circulating among people living in a confined, densely populated environment.

It's unclear whether prison and health officials have pinpointed the source of the contamination yet. A spokesperson for the federal prison said that the agency has completed "extensive testing" and is waiting on the results.

Inmates, meanwhile, have expressed fears of being trapped in a facility where the bacteria is still circulating. Federal prison officials wouldn't comment on how many, if any, women had been transferred to other facilities, citing security concerns.

Federal prison officials also said that the Florida Department of Health is assisting with its response to the outbreak, but the state agency won't say anything about what its role is, how it is helping, or even whether it considers the prisoners at the facility to be part of the population it serves.

"If this was happening at a local hospital, they'd probably have a little bit more to say," said David Krause, who has a Ph.D. in toxicology and was the former state toxicologist at the Florida Department of Health from 2008-2011.

Krause said the department's lack of transparency is detrimental to public health.

"If they're trying to protect the health status and health records and private information of individuals, that can be done and still provide meaningful information to the public, family members, workers, other people potentially exposed," Krause said.

For their part, the state health department claimed that statutory requirements prohibit them from commenting on any ongoing epidemiological investigation unless cleared by the state surgeon general. A state official later clarified that the agency couldn't comment on the prison because it was not in charge of the investigation and merely assisting federal authorities.

Even though the BOP is only confirming one case of scabies, inmates and their families say the problem is more widespread.

One inmate, who did not want to give her name for fear of retaliation, said all of the women in one of the dorms were told to get rid of their mattresses, clothes and shoes.

"They replaced her mattress the same day and took all her clothes and shoes and bagged them up," she told her mother of a fellow inmate.

Helen Pendland, whose daughter has been at Coleman for more than a year, said the problems at Coleman are beyond repair.

"It's too bad to fix," she said. "They need to tear it down."

Pendland, who lives in Oregon, fought back tears as she described how her daughter has struggled to get medical attention.

"They've done something wrong and are in prison because of it," she said. "But they didn't go in there for a death sentence."

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