Jailhouse Rash Not Serious

LEONARDTOWN --- St. Mary’s County Health Department officials have ruled-out any serious communicable diseases as the source of a mysterious jailhouse rash that several inmates and employees came down with at the county jail.

While the exact makeup of the infection is not yet known, enough has been determined to lift the health advisory issued at the jail last week, health department information officer Leslie Payne said Wednesday.

Payne said it is "back to business as normal" at the jail, after laboratory testing conducted in Baltimore on several known communicable diseases ruled-out any serious health concerns.

Additional testing is underway to determine the exact nature of the jailhouse bug.

Diane McKinney, health department communicable disease program manager, noted the county’s system of halting an infectious disease was successful.

"Everyone involved in the investigation worked swiftly to rule out the threat of serious viral infection and protect the inmates, employees and their families from the likelihood of catching a contagious disease," McKinney said in a release, adding hand-washing is the simplest method of protection from infection.