Inmate died from pneumonia after prison sickness outbreak

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An inmate who died last week after developing a severe, flu-like illness appears to have succumbed to pneumonia, a coroner said Monday as a western Indiana prison facing an outbreak of similar cases reported that more than two dozen inmates had been hospitalized.

While preliminary autopsy results suggest the man died from pneumonia, Vigo County Coroner Dr. Susan Amos said testing is ongoing to determine what type of infection he was stricken with.

"It does appear to be pneumonia, but exactly what type, source - whether it was viral or bacterial - we don't know yet," she said.

The Putnamville Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison about 35 miles west of Indianapolis, said inmates began developing severe, flu-like symptoms last week that progressed rapidly in several of the men "to severe shortness of breath and pneumonia like symptoms."

Indiana Department of Correction spokesman Isaac Randolph said officials aren't sure what's making the inmates sick, but prison staff members are changing air filters and taking other steps.

The prison said that 14 inmates had been hospitalized at Terre Haute Regional Hospital and four were in intensive care. Another 11 inmates were under observation in the prison's hospital. The facility suspended visits with inmates last week.

Terre Haute Regional Hospital said in a statement Monday that it was treating 17 inmates, one of them in critical condition, and the 16 others in good condition. Some of those in good condition could be released soon, the hospital said. It wasn't clear if this accounted for the difference in numbers hospitalized from the prison and the hospital.

The hospital said the inmates being treated are "in a high level of clinical isolation from other patients," but it was discouraging people who are ill, frail or under age 18 from visiting the hospital.

The prison's superintendent and the medical director for the corrections department are scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon in Greencastle to discuss the investigation into the illnesses.

Indiana State Department of Health spokeswoman Jennifer O'Malley said the department was "working closely" with the Indiana Department of Correction, local health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the investigation of the illnesses.

She said the CDC will perform specialized testing to support the state's testing of specimens collected from the ailing inmates.

"It's an ongoing process," O'Malley said.

Prison staff were replacing about 75 air-handling filters and providing masks and hand sanitizer to inmates and staff who request those. All common areas are also being cleaned with a bleach solution.