What do you think?
Rate this book
Outbreak Behind Bars: Spider Bites, Human Rights, and the Unseen Danger to Public Health
How the failure to protect incarcerated people from infections has led to preventable outbreaks—and how public health professionals can make a difference.
In late 2019, Dennis Oya's persistent cough was just the beginning of a harrowing tale of neglect and systemic failure in a Washington prison. Diagnosed 18 months later with tuberculosis (TB), Oya's case sparked one of the largest prison TB outbreaks in decades, affecting over 3,000 contacts. This outbreak, and others like it, exposes the glaring weaknesses in prison health-care systems.
In Outbreak Behind Bars, Homer Venters reveals the grim realities of how communicable diseases thrive in the overcrowded, unsanitary conditions of correctional facilities. From TB to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), these infections spread rapidly due to systemic neglect and inadequate medical responses. The book highlights the stories of those who have suffered, as well as common failures in health-care provision, and offers specific guidance for public health professionals in conducting investigations and facility inspections during outbreaks behind bars.
With firsthand accounts and expert analysis, this book illustrates the urgent need for reform in prison health care to protect incarcerated people and the wider community. Outbreak Behind Bars is a crucial read for anyone concerned about justice, public health, and the overlooked plight of incarcerated people, especially students, faculty, and professionals in the field of public health.
In late 2019, Dennis Oya's persistent cough was just the beginning of a harrowing tale of neglect and systemic failure in a Washington prison. Diagnosed 18 months later with tuberculosis (TB), Oya's case sparked one of the largest prison TB outbreaks in decades, affecting over 3,000 contacts. This outbreak, and others like it, exposes the glaring weaknesses in prison health-care systems.
In Outbreak Behind Bars, Homer Venters reveals the grim realities of how communicable diseases thrive in the overcrowded, unsanitary conditions of correctional facilities. From TB to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), these infections spread rapidly due to systemic neglect and inadequate medical responses. The book highlights the stories of those who have suffered, as well as common failures in health-care provision, and offers specific guidance for public health professionals in conducting investigations and facility inspections during outbreaks behind bars.
With firsthand accounts and expert analysis, this book illustrates the urgent need for reform in prison health care to protect incarcerated people and the wider community. Outbreak Behind Bars is a crucial read for anyone concerned about justice, public health, and the overlooked plight of incarcerated people, especially students, faculty, and professionals in the field of public health.
- GenresNonfictionPolitics
220 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 20, 2025
2 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
Want to read
December 10, 2025As heard on This Podcast Will Kill You (Special Episode: Dr. Homer Venters & Outbreak Behind Bars)
https://omny.fm/shows/this-podcast-wi...
[Content warning: self-harm, suicide, violence]
In this day and age, we are equipped with an abundance of tools and knowledge to fight the spread of disease. Yet what good does that toolkit do if we lack the resources or the will to implement it where it is needed? One area of great need is our correctional facilities, our prisons, jails, immigration detention centers, and juvenile detention centers. In these settings, communicable disease is often allowed to spread unchecked, leading to high rates of morbidity and mortality. Meaningful change is needed, but what might that look like? In this week’s TPWKY book club episode, Dr. Homer Venters joins us to discuss his latest work, Outbreak Behind Bars: Spider Bites, Human Rights, and the Unseen Danger to Public Health. As the former Chief Medical Officer of the New York City jail system and through his current role as a federal monitor of health services in several jail and prison settings, Dr. Venters has extensive firsthand knowledge of the barriers that prevent adequate medical care to be delivered to these populations. And he has evidence-based solutions. Tune in for a necessary discussion of this humanitarian crisis.
Support this podcast by shopping our latest sponsor deals and promotions at this link: https://bit.ly/3WwtIAu
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
https://omny.fm/shows/this-podcast-wi...
Displaying 1 of 1 review