Inmate diagnosed with chickenpox

PORT ORCHARD — Chickenpox has been diagnosed in an inmate at the Kitsap County Jail, and health authorities have instituted an infectious-disease control plan.

The 31-year-old inmate was booked into custody last week and resided in three different inmate-housing units by the time his ailment was discovered, Kitsap County Health District officials said Wednesday.

The inmate complained to guards Tuesday evening, was examined by medical personnel and was placed in medical isolation. The disease was confirmed Wednesday in tests at the state Health Department laboratory in Shoreline.

As part of a plan to keep the disease from spreading, health officials and jail staff announced a vaccination program, established a medical isolation unit for all inmates who are found to have the disease and assigned inmates booked into custody after 10 a.m. Wednesday to a previously unoccupied unit.

Guards and other employees who become infected will be placed on administrative leave and told to stay home until the ailment runs its course, officials said.

The highly contagious virus is typically spread by coughing or sneezing and typically takes 10 to 21 days after contact with an infected person to develop. Symptoms include a blisterlike skin rash, itching, fatigue and fever.