http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0423jailvermin0423.html

Problems with pest control plaguing some county jails

Lindsey Collom The Arizona Republic Apr. 23, 2006 12:00 AM

If the Estrella Jail kitchen were part of any other eatery in Maricopa County, authorities would have shut it down long ago.

Maricopa County Environmental Services specialists consistently have found pest-control problems - everything from roaches to rodent droppings - during routine monthly inspections at the jail near 27th Avenue and Durango Street in Phoenix.

For more than two years, inspectors have noted at least one major health violation during every one of their visits to the jail, according to county records.

During recent visits, they found mice excrement, a roach carcass and traces of food among washed dishes. Other inspections noted roach infestation, fruit flies and live mice in the food-preparation area.

It's a potential health issue for the hundreds of female inmates, the majority of whom are awaiting trial, living at Estrella Jail. For example, health officials have linked mice droppings with the hantavirus, a severe and sometimes-fatal lung infection. So far, Maricopa County jails have not reported any cases.

Improper pest control is a major violation of the Maricopa County Health Code. If an eating establishment had enough repeat violations, the county could shut down the restaurant.

But Environmental Services officials said Estrella Jail and other detention facilities shouldn't be compared with restaurants because of the frequency of inspections, which are mandated by law. While jails are evaluated each month, restaurants are checked three or four times a year.

The county operates a handful of jails, which house about 10,700 inmates. Estrella and Durango jails, two of the oldest facilities in Maricopa County, have received the most infractions from the county's Environmental Services Department.

Exterminators service the jails weekly but they haven't been able to control the vermin population, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.

"We live in the desert, (the jails) are next to dumps. There are rodents in the environment," Arpaio said.

It doesn't help that inmates view them as pets, he added.

Inspector Ralph Jones said, "The Number 1 problem (at Estrella) is we have a population of inmates that are actively encouraging the infestation. In Estrella, they'll hamper efforts to put out traps. They'll feed the mice. That's really a challenge."

David Ludwig, manager of the county's Environmental Health Division, said women inmates steal the traps made of tacky paper and use them to wax their legs and eyebrows.

They care for the mice by handcrafting small containers to hold water and small bits of bread, cheese or lunch meat, inspector Sabine Walker said. She and Jones often discover feeding areas under sinks or doors.

Detention officers have tried to quash this activity by gathering leftover food from meals, but Walker said candy bars and other snacks from the jail commissary make it difficult to catch everything.

Arpaio said the infestation has yet to be a health issue, but he warned that anyone caught feeding the mice would be put in lockdown.

Reach the reporter at lindsey.collom@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8557.