Houston County Jail experiences flu outbreak

Houston County Jail officials recently quarantined a couple dozen inmates as a safety precaution after an outbreak of the flu at the facility.

Three inmates have the flu, and officials are taking several precautions to keep the illness from spreading, according to Jail Commander Keith Reed.

Officials placed F pod on quarantine Thursday, which includes about 27 inmates or 5 percent of the jail’s inmate population, Reed said.

“We just have one pod that has been quarantined,” Reed said. “It’s to make sure no other inmates become ill, and to make sure we don’t spread it throughout the jail.”

The pod will likely remain on quarantine for at least a week. The jail houses about 447 inmates, as of Friday morning.

All three inmates with the flu are men, and they being held in the jail’s medical clinic where they are receiving treatment, Reed said.

“One of the inmates who had the flu had only been here a week, and the other two had been here several months,” Reed said.

Officials have taken several other safety precautions at the jail which have included corrections officers wearing protective masks and gloves as they enter and exit the F pod.

“They get their meals on a Styrofoam tray just to be on the safe side,” Reed said. “Normally they get their food on a tray similar to what you’d see in a school cafeteria.”