There's been a scabies outbreak at the Daviess County Detention center.
Scabies is a skin disease spread by a small mite. It makes people itch and can cause sores.
We now know that seven staff members and 15 inmates have been infected. With over 15,000 people coming through the jail each year, officials say they're doing everything they can to keep it from spreading.
Last Thursday, jail officials made an unpleasant discovery. They found that mites carrying scabies are calling the detention center home.
"Been working on it pretty frantically all weekend, and obviously, we don't have it completely stopped yet," said jailer David Osborne. "As soon as we learn they're infected, we get them quarantined. They're receiving the treatment at least twice, some three times. We have a suspicion of another jail that we got an inmate from but we're not certain."
Osborne says getting rid of the bugs carrying scabies isn't easy because you can't see them.
"Everything has to be laundered in extra hot temperatures and a longer time in the dryer," Osborne said. "It may take four to six weeks to manifest those symptoms so we're dealing with a big problem here."
The disease is transferred by direct contact.
"You'll see that all staff here today are wearing gloves. They are really on edge. It's really nerve racking for the employees. They have to handle all the laundry," Osborne said.
Until the scabies problem is contained, there will be no visitation.
"We're still on very limited movement. I know they're missing the visits and we want to get those going as soon as we can. I hope we can do it tomorrow at least on a limited basis," Osborne said.
Osborne says the jail will soon have a new procedure where anyone with long hair will be inspected by medical personnel before they come into the jail.
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Last Thursday, jail officials made the unpleasant discovery.
