Compounding the problem, many correctional facility employees are in close proximity with the inmate community daily. Moreover, the dense inmate population raises the risks of disease outbreaks, including TB, HIV, hepatitis, asthma, and antibiotic-resistant staph, states the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which has been working to prevent/contain the spread of these and other diseases.
Because of TB's airborne transmission, the BOP points out, "The identification of a potentially infectious TB case in a correctional facility should always provoke a rapid response because of the potential for widespread TB transmission. Numerous outbreaks of TB have been reported in prisons and jails, especially among HIV-infected inmates."