A residential unit at the Huron Valley women’s prison near Ypsilanti was placed under quarantine due to a scabies outbreak.
83 prisoners in the unit were treated for the parasitic mites – but only three inmates actually had the disease.
Michigan Department of Corrections spokesperson Chris Gautz explains the procedure when there’s an infestation.
“We quarantine them for 24 hours. So their meals came to them, they stayed in their units and we traded out their clothing and had their clothing laundered.”
This isn’t the first outbreak at this prison. The department was sued in April, with prisoners alleging they suffered permanent scarring because officials took too long to diagnose and treat an earlier scabies outbreak.
Gautz says that lawsuit had no effect on how prisoners were diagnosed and treated for this outbreak.