Three inmates at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada may be infected with some strain of E. coli. Nevada public health officials say that one case is confirmed and two more are suspected at the prison best known for housing former football star O.J. Simpson. Loveluckprison_406x250Lovelock is located about 100 miles northeast of Reno. It is one of nine state prisons run by the Nevada Department of Corrections. The department announced the E. coli cases in a news release issued Thursday. The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health has been invited to the prison to investigate. It submitted samples to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta for testing. “No other inmates or anyone in the general public have been reported as showing symptoms of or have been suspected of having E. coli in Nevada,” according to the news release. E. coli, or Escherichia coli, is a bacteria that affect the intestines, with certain strains causing severe abdominal pains, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. It can be spread by several different causes, including contaminated food or water, or contact with fecal matter. Lovelock prison last made the news in March when Simpson, 67, reportedly “cut” into a medication line and got into a fight with a white supremacist known as “Blu.” Located in Pershing County, Lovelock is a 20-year-old “medium custody” prison with a capacity of 1,680 inmates. Robert LeGrand is the warden.

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