Society

Mystery disease “eating prisoners alive” in Roraima jail

Horrendous sanitary conditions inside a Boa Vista penitentiary have led to the spreading of serious diseases among inmates, including a mysterious "skin-eating" bacteria

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“Skin-eating” bacteria found in Brazilian jail. Photo: Personal archive

A mysterious skin disease is reportedly “eating inmates alive” inside the largest jail in Roraima, Brazil’s poorest state. Twenty-four prisoners from the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo (PAMC) have been taken to the Roraima General Hospital in the state capital of Boa Vista, presenting symptoms such as swelling, severe rashes, discolorations in the skin, and inability to walk.

Conditions are so desperate that only ten of the men have actually been hospitalized, with the remaining 14 left untreated in the medical facility’s corridors. Five of those under treatment are suffering from tuberculosis, while one has scabies. Those who are receiving antibiotics are reportedly responding well.

Hélio Abozaglo, of the Human Rights Committee of the Roraima chapter of the Brazilian Bar Association, has been monitoring the situation closely...

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