PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - Early suspicions may prove true for Michigan Department of Corrections officials investigating a nearly year-long outbreak of rashes at Michigan’s only women’s prison.
A dermatologist found 24 cases of scabies in recent weeks at the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Pittsfield Township, MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz confirmed. The number of cases may grow as the facility seeks a second opinion and evaluates other prisoners, Gautz said. An epidemiologist also has been called in, while treatment is underway.
Nearly 200 prisoners were reported to have a mysterious rash at the prison in November, up from 50 when it was originally reported by the Detroit Free Press in March. The rash is believed to have begun a few months before then.
The recent diagnosis comes as some relief for officials, who have spent months working to solve the issue, Gautz said.
He recalled efforts to have medicine sent overnight when the outbreak began, and weekly conference calls and brainstorming later. Officials know prisoners and their families are frustrated, too, he said.
"No stone has been left unturned," Gautz said. "We're trying to figure this out and it has been frustrating, but at least now we have this diagnosis and we can attack this, we can treat this."
Scabies is an infestation of the skin by the human itch mite, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Symptoms included intense itching and a pimple-like rash, matching descriptions of the outbreak by a number of prisoners.
Though the MDOC originally suspected and treated for scabies, the diagnosis was twice ruled out through testing and dermatologist evaluations in February and March 2018, Gautz said. It’s unclear why the original testing and evaluations came up negative.
The CDC notes it’s possible to have infestations without mites being located.
The prison went on to suspect improper use of inmate cleaning chemicals and prisoners washing clothing in trash cans with prisoner-made soap.
And that still may be causing some rashes, Gautz said.
Prisoners with various health histories have presented with variations of rashes, Gautz said, and the scabies diagnosis doesn’t serve as a definitive diagnosis for all of them, yet, he said.
"We have some prisoners who have scabies and a rash, we have some prisoners that just have scabies, we have some prisoners that just have a rash," he said.
The department hopes to clear up the scabies cases - with some success already - and go from there, he said.
But the scabies diagnosis comes as no surprise to prisoners such as Jessica Howard, 31.
Howard was paroled at the start of the December after serving more than a year in prison for receiving or concealing more than $1,000 but less than $20,000 in stolen property in Benzie County.
About the same time prison officials made their determination in recent weeks, Howard got in to see a doctor.
She was diagnosed with and treated for scabies, she said. After nearly a year suffering from an itchy rash, she is now rash-free.
She’s both glad and frustrated with the conclusion, she said, reiterating previous concerns that the prison wasn’t doing enough.
She was not one of the prisoners originally tested for scabies, she said.
"It's something that could've been taken care of a long time ago," Howard said.
Meanwhile, some remain skeptical of the findings and handling of the rash outbreak thus far.
Though the prison has pointed to water and air testing to refute the claims of an airborne source, such as mold, Lou Coomans, 64-year-old husband of prisoner Carolyn Taylor, 54, said he still suspects that to be the case.
"I hope they get this resolved but the way they're pussyfooting around here I think this is going to be dragging on for a long time," he said.
Scabies testing for Taylor, who told previously told The Ann Arbor News she started noticing the rash in August, recently came back negative, Coomans said. Still, his wife was treated for it, to no avail.
She is one of several prisoners who volunteered to be quarantined for evaluation and has been in the infirmary for several weeks, Coomans said. Taylor could not immediately be reached for comment.
“My wife is still going through a lot of agony with the itching and that stuff and its been ongoing now for months with no relief,” he said.