San Quentin Restores Some Services to Inmates After Legionnaires Outbreak

After last week’s outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease at San Quentin State Prison, the prison is slowly restoring services to inmates.

Out-of-cell time for inmates had originally been severely limited, but has resumed, officials say. In addition, inmates who had been limited to boxed meals at the time of the outbreak will again have access to hot meals.

When reports of Legionnaire’s Disease surfaced last Thursday, water at the prison was shut off and inmate services were severely limited in order to prevent the disease from spreading and to help facilitate investigations, San Quentin officials said.

Other services that had been limited were access to the library and dental appointments. San Quentin officials say those services have now resumed.

The disease, according to medical officials, is a severe form of pneumonia that is very contagious and spread via steam, mist, and moisture.

However, inmates still continue to take showers in portable units and are obtaining water from secondary sources like bottled water and water tanks. In addition, inmate visiting and volunteer programs have also been halted and San Quentin is currently not admitting new inmates as investigations continue.

So far there have been six confirmed cases of Legionnaire’s Disease since the outbreak last Thursday and 85 inmates are under observation for respiratory illness, prison officials said.

--Bay City News Service, photo via Shutterstock