Tuberculosis Has Broken Out in Texas Prison System

Men at the Connally Unit (image via Facebook / TDCJ - John B. Connally Unit)

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice acknowledges that tuberculosis has broken out in one of its largest prisons, the maximum-security John B. Connally Unit midway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi. “Since October 2023, seven inmates have been diagnosed with tuberculosis at the Connally Unit,” a TDCJ spokesperson told the Chronicle via email on July 12.

Advocates and family members believe the number of TB cases at Connally is much higher. Based on reports from families, Charlie Malouff, vice president of TX C.U.R.E., thinks at least six men have died from TB this summer at the prison. TDCJ denies that any inmate has died as a result of TB. Malouff calculates the Connally unit is currently managing 60 active cases. A screenshot of a social media message from a family member shared by Malouff last week states that the prison’s infirmary is full.

Tuberculosis is a deadly respiratory disease associated with 19th-century poets and intellectuals – John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley famously had it. Many assume it’s no longer active, and that is largely true. But last year about three out of 100,000 Americans were infected with TB, and USAID reports the numbers are five to 70 times higher in prisons, which are perfect breeding grounds for such an airborne disease with their overcrowding, poor ventilation, terrible nutrition, and abysmal health care. Limited research shows that Texas prisons are the most dangerous in the country for the disease.

Valerie Losoya’s 25-year-old brother, Joshua Losoya, died in prison on June 8 from TB meningitis, she told us. Losoya said she realized Joshua was sick during a visit to the Connally unit last September, when he appeared weak and wheezing. Her family pleaded with prison officials to help him, she said, to no avail. Joshua was found unresponsive in his cell in November and taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with TB and intubated. Doctors told the family the disease had been caught too late and that Joshua had a 50-50 chance of survival. He began breathing on his own, however, and was transferred to the Estelle Unit this spring. But he continued to lose weight and have difficulty breathing.

“He told me he couldn’t even do his weigh-ins because he would get out of breath,” Losoya said. “And I have a recording where he was wheezing really bad. I’m like, 'Are you telling the nurses?’ And it was just like they always were ignoring him, looking the other way, and after making these complaints they would hang up on me. And finally, we get a call on June 8 that my brother was transferred to the hospital again for respiratory distress and that he passed away on the way to the hospital.”

A family member who wishes to remain anonymous shared an account of how prison officials are handling inmates at Connally who have contracted the disease. “My loved one is one of the men who tested positive for TB on Tuesday [July 9],” she said. “They told him that they’re only giving meds to kill the germ but he’d actively still have TB, just won’t spread it. They also told him in a few months if he starts coughing hard or coughing up blood to put in for medical. Like, what the fuck?”

The woman added on July 18 that she had heard reports of four deaths from TB at Connally and that at least 20 are infected. She said her loved one still had not begun treatment but was in a cell with uninfected inmates.

Chivas Watson, a legal researcher who helps Texas prisoners appeal their convictions, told us on July 10 that his contacts in Connally report at least four deaths from TB. He blamed the infections on the prison’s humid conditions and inadequate air flow. “The walls sweat,” Watson said. “And that sweat, it gets into the air, folks are ingesting this, and it manifests sickness. My clients, they’re all telling me the same thing. They’re like, 'This shit is nasty, bro. Could you please help me get to the Ellis unit? Could you please help me get to the Stiles unit? Please help me get to the Memorial unit, the Robertson unit, anywhere. Get me the hell out of here.’”

Losoya said she and her family asked prison officials for details about her brother’s treatment last week but haven’t heard anything back. “I went and I picked up his property, and they just put my brother’s stuff in a cart outside where you sign up for a visit, like my brother was nothing,” she said. “I’m thinking, did they not notice that he was deteriorating? Did they not see the signs? Like, did y’all not see he required more medical help? Why would y’all look the other way? You know, he’s not just a number, he’s somebody’s son, brother. They’re supposed to go there to get rehabilitated and be safe, and everybody just failed him. And he was only 25.”