ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Visits to the city jail here have been cancelled for two weeks after an inmate died of suspected meningococcemia.
The ban was imposed as part of measures to prevent the spread of the disease at the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center, which has over 4,000 inmates.
Jail Officer 3 Rey Laurence Comprendio, city jail community relations officer, said the inmates and other people who had close contact with the victim were given prophylaxis or an antibiotic to prevent infection.
The inmate died while being treated in a hospital, where he was brought after showing symptoms related to meningococcemia.
However, city health officer Dulce Miravite said confirmatory tests showed that the inmate was negative of meningococcemia.