Five inmates from the jail in Higuey have been taken to hospital after showing symptoms of tuberculosis. Another 75 prisoners are being readied to be taken to the Anamuya Rehabilitation Center after authorities have intervened to try and stop the spread of TB that has already claimed the lives of three inmates.
A number of government officials met with the Higuey prison warden, Ismael Paniagua to investigate the outbreak, inlcuing the Public Prosecutor for the province, La Altagracia, Edwin Encarnacion; the Provincial Health director, Mayra Paula Reyes; Environmental Health doctor Juan Bautista Polo and Samuel Cueto from the Department of Epidemiology.
The authorities arrived with ambulances, medicines and a team of specialists to examine the inmates and the medical professionals who work inside the jail.
At the same time, relatives of the inmates demonstrated outside the jail demanding that the prisoners be freed.
It is hoped that this sweeping health check in the jail will lead to the early detection of new cases of TB so that those infected can be treated immediately. The officials also pledged to review the sanitary condition at the jail as well as check the quality of the food being prepared and served at the facility.
Aleudy Sima, aged 28, Antonio Eusebio Carpio, 20, and a Haitian man just known “Chihuahua”, have all died during the last two weeks at the jail in Higuey, due to hunger and the unsanitary conditions at the jail.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2015/11/02/394614/evaluan-reclusos-en-la-carcel-de-higey-por-casos-de-tuberculosis-llevan-5-al-hospital