3 former York County SC jail inmates test positive for tuberculosis, sheriff says
Jail staff and inmate testing is planned after three former inmates at the York County Detention Center tested positive for tuberculosis, according to the sheriff’s office.
Tuberculosis, also called TB, is an illness caused by bacteria that usually attack the lungs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
It spreads through the air, according to the CDC.
Three York County Detention Center inmates have tested positive for tuberculosis. Two were transported to an area hospital out of an abundance of caution. DHEC and a regional TB clinic will arrive on Tues., to do a site assessment. #YCSONews
READ MORE ️ https://t.co/7JwrC8HL7T— York County Sheriff (@YCSO_SC) October 16, 2023
The jail at the Moss Justice Center in York has almost 500 inmates at any given time, plus dozens of staff who work there. The jail population changes several times daily as inmates are booked in or released.
The Moss Justice Center complex also houses the criminal courts and clerk of court offices, as well as prosecutors and public defender offices.
South Carolina law requires the county jail to be run by the sheriff.
TB skin tests are done before an inmate enters the jail’s general population and staff are tested annually, according to a statement released Monday by the sheriff’s office.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is expected to be at the jail Tuesday to begin contact tracing and testing of inmates and staff who might have had contact with the inmates, Sheriff Kevin Tolson said in the statement.
“We will test as many people as necessary to ensure the safety and well being of all staff and inmates,” Tolson said in the statement.
The three people who tested positive were acquaintances and had contact with each other before the first inmate was booked on Oct. 7, Tolson said. The second was booked in Oct. 8 and the third was taken to a hospital after being arrested and never was admitted to the detention center, Tolson said.
The three persons are now out of custody on bond, the release stated.
Officials did not say how long the two inmates who were booked in on Oct. 7 and Oct. 8 were in the jail.
Tolson and Chief Jail Administrator John Hicks notified the state’s DHEC about the positive tuberculosis results, the statement said.
