Since the facility opened in 2022, staff and inmates have been infested with mosquitoes.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City. The prison is built in an optimal location for mosquito habitat, and officials said late last week that a pool of West Nile virus-positive mosquitoes had been found inside the facility.
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A mosquito at a Utah correctional facility in Salt Lake City tested positive for West Nile virus, corrections officials announced late last week.
Prison authorities are urging inmates and staff to take precautionary measures, such as applying insect repellent and wearing trousers and long-sleeved shirts. According to Friday’s news release from the Department of Corrections, he wore closed-toe shoes to avoid mosquito bites.
In a release, Ali Falaj, executive director of the Salt Lake City Mosquito Elimination District, said that while infected mosquitoes did not pose an “imminent threat,” “prisons are a mosquito habitat and a potential source of infection.” “Given the proximity to some mosquitoes, we want to make sure we eliminate infected mosquitoes.” Everyone remains vigilant. “
As of Monday, corrections officials had not publicly announced an outbreak of West Nile disease among people inside the prison. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Salt Lake Tribune on Monday as to whether anyone had tested positive.
(Francisco Jorces | Salt Lake Tribune) A photo of mosquito traps near a correctional facility in Utah on Oct. 11, 2022.
In a release, Dr. Michelle Hoffman, executive medical director of the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees prison medical services, said officials will monitor inmates and others for signs of the virus.
Many are asymptomatic, but infection can cause symptoms Head and body pain, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea, rashAccording to the Department of Health and Human Services. A small number of infected people develop inflammation of the spinal cord and brain, which can be life threatening.
Introducing lotion-based insect repellent Free for prisonerscorrections officials announced in July. Inmates had no access to repellent during the prison’s first summer of operation last year, and relatives and advocates told the Tribune that inmates were being “eaten alive.”
[Read more: Inmates ‘getting eaten alive’ by insects at new Utah prison. Officials knew it could happen, records show.]
Inmates in less secure areas will be able to obtain and apply repellents themselves, and inmates in restricted units will be provided with insect repellent before personnel go to outdoor recreation yards. According to a news release, repellents are also available for purchase at prison kiosks.
Mosquitoes were a problem at the prison even before it began accepting inmates in July 2022, as it was built on a mosquito habitat in an ecologically sensitive wetland near the Great Salt Lake. .
Last year, prisons relied primarily on pesticides to keep mosquitoes at bay, but all of those chemicals have caused environmentalists to worry about how they might affect humans and wildlife. was For example, too few insects can damage the wetland ecosystems that millions of birds depend on, and even damage the Great Salt Lake itself.
After the first mosquito season at the new location, lawmakers allocated $300,000 to fix the prison’s mosquito problem.
Since then, correctional personnel have been trained to apply larvicides to the waters surrounding the facility to kill mosquito larvae before they reach maturity, contributing to the reduction of mosquito larvae, the statement said. Ta.