Westmoreland County Prison has its own brand of hard-bitten inmates these days.
Prisoners are complaining of spider bites, and several have been treated for allergic skin reactions.
Everyone is glad the reactions are not the result of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a "drug-resistant superbug ... that can be fatal if not treated with the right antibiotics," according Dr. Daniel Jernigan, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"It is the most common cause of skin infections among inmates in some jails," the doctor wrote in a recent warning to jail administrators.
MRSA symptoms look like spider bites, he said, and are sometimes misdiagnosed as such.
Members of the jail's United Mine Workers local safety committee, concerned about employees' possible exposure to MRSA, alerted Warden John Walton to the possibility of an outbreak.
The United Mine Workers represents corrections officers who work at the jail.
Walton said prison doctors tested cultures from those affected, and all proved negative for the staph bacteria.
The prison houses 580 inmates and employs about 200 people.
The MRSA has hit the region recently.
Two patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Butler died from complications of MRSA. Relatives believe they contracted the staph infection while at the hospital.
A federal probe launched after complaints from the patients' relatives concluded last summer, but officials wouldn't comment on their findings, noting federal statutes regarding patient privacy and medical quality assurance.
Local officials of the medical center would only say that their patient protocols are in compliance with national health standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and that the facility has stepped up screening procedures.
And in Mt. Lebanon and Beaver County, nearly 10 high school students were treated for MRSA last month. The students attended Ambridge Area High School and Mt. Lebanon High School.
Officials at the schools said they disinfected locker areas, and now forbid players to share towels and equipment.
In the eastern part of the state, a 2001 MRSA outbreak in Bucks County Prison resulted in the death of a female inmate. Jails in Los Angeles, New Jersey, Ohio, and West Virginia also have dealt with the bacteria.
Westmoreland County Prison's Walton said a local exterminator will continue to visit the Hempfield lockup monthly.
Winter temperatures also are expected to help eliminate the spider problem.
The pain in Beaver County has nothing to do with spider bites. It's budget cuts. The county is facing a $10 million spending gap and one official says, "There are going to be job losses."
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