Possible Scabies Outbreak Spreads Through Nashville Jail

NASHVILLE, TN —More than 300 female inmates at a Nashville detention facility operated by private-prison giant CoreCivic are being treated for scabies, health officials said Thursday.

Between 20 and 25 women at the Davidson County Detention Facility on Harding Pike have rashes consistent with scabies and 320 women are receiving treatment for the disease caused by the burrowing into the skin of the human itch mite, Health Department spokesman Brian Todd told The Tennessean. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier told the newspaper he had to reschedule a trial because an attorney was showing signs of the disease and is in quarantine. Court appearances set for Thursday and Friday for the inmates are being rescheduled, as none of the women will be brought to Nashville's courthouses until the outbreak is controlled.

Scabies is spread by skin-to-skin contact and tends to spread in dormitories, barracks, jails and prisons were people are kept in close quarters.

CoreCivic — the new name of Corrections Corporation of America or CCA — did not have an immediate comment.

Image via Centers for Disease Control & Prevention