Rusk Prison Unit Hit Hard by the Flu

RUSK — No one in Texas is immune from the flu. That includes Texas prisons, with one East Texas unit feeling the effects. The prison system’s Jason Clark says officials are seeing outbreaks at the Hodge Unit in Rusk, which houses intellectually challenged inmates — as well as the Jester Four Prison in RIchmond. clark says those sickened are from different housing areas, “so that makes trying to restrict their movement more difficult. Officers are utilizing surgical masks and gloves whenever they’re going into those affected areas.” As of Wednesday 64 inmates in Hodge were ill and 18 in the Jester Four unit. Visitation was closed last weekend at both prisons. It’s not known yet if visitors will be welcomed this coming weekend.