A rat-infestation related disease has caused 4,000 inmates to be moved from the Pollsmoor Detention facility near Cape Town, South Africa.
This occurred after at least one prisoner reportedly died on the facility.
Spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services, Manelisi Wolela confirmed this to Al Jazeera on Saturday.
“We have been fumigating the place, but as of now, we are moving the prisoners to other locations, and it will take some days to complete,” Wolela said.
The infection, known as leptospirosis, is carried in rat urine and conditions at the prison were likely to faciliate more infections, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said.
Right groups have condemned the conditions of prisons in the country, describing it as “inhumane.”
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