Four inmates at an eastern Ontario jail have been placed in isolation after contracting a type of bacterial infection resistant to ordinary antibiotics, the Ontario Ministry of Correctional Services has confirmed.

Spokesman Stuart McGetrick said the inmates diagnosed with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at the Brockville jail are being treated with special antibiotics and are expected to recover.

He added that the jail is taking other special precautions to deal with the infections.

"Areas of the institution that the inmates were previously housed in have been thoroughly cleaned," McGetrick said. "Things like bed linen used by the inmates undergo special laundry treatment."

MRSA usually causes only mild infections, but can progress to large boils, hemorrhagic pneumonia or flesh-eating disease in rare cases. It rarely affects healthy people and is most often seen in hospitals and nursing homes, where it is considered a problem because it is resistant to the antibiotics penicillin and methicillin. Therefore, it must be treated with vancomycin, an antibiotic that is only used as a last resort because it is extremely irritating to human tissue.

The Ministry of Correctional Services was asked about the infections after the CBC received calls from two prisoners who were worried about the outbreak.

Inmate Thomas Jacques said he asked a nurse about it, but wasn't satisfied with her answer.

"She's like, 'Oh, well, don't worry about it, just wash your hands,'" he said. "Well, OK, we wash our hands, but even if we touch the bars, we're still going to end up catching it if we have an open wound or something, you know."

Jane Futcher, director of clinical services for the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark district health unit that includes Brockville, said she isn't surprised that the infections are showing up in jails.

"You look at our jail system and you also have some people who have been living on the streets … so their immune systems are probably not the best," she said.

Public health officials have said they are seeing an increase in MRSA infections outside medical institutions, at places such as daycares and locker rooms.

However, they don't know the extent of the problem, as there is no requirement to report infections to local health units.