Joe Exotic Says He's Among 140 Inmates Confirmed to Have Scabies in Prison
Joe Exotic ’s dealing with a painful skin condition while incarcerated that has to be as painful as getting scratched by a tiger.
Exotic revealed to TMZ that he’s dealing with an outbreak of scabies that’s taken over the Texas prison that he’ll be at until 2036.
According to Exotic, he’s one of 300 inmates that are in quarantine at Federal Medical Center (FMC) Fort Worth and he's one of 140 inmates with confirmed cases of the disease. The skin infection that causes extreme itching and brings about a pimple-like rash requires medication to treat — which Joe explains that there’s not enough of at the facility.
One prisoner, allegedly, had the affliction for more than seven months with open sores on his skin. Since it’s spread by skin-to-skin contact with someone that’s infected, it seems like he could have been the cause of the place’s outbreak—but that’s not the only issue that Exotic says is impacting the facility.
Exotic also claims that there’s a rat infestation that’s tormenting inmates. He says that the four-legged vermin have gotten into everyone’s living quarters, with inmates even complaining about the rats hopping into bed with them at night.
TMZ spoke to a representative of the Federal Bureau of Prisons about Exotic’s claims and they confirmed that existence of the outbreak. "A Scabies outbreak has been identified in one housing unit at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas,” the spokesperson said. “Out of an abundance of caution, the housing unit has been placed on modified operations status and social visitation has been temporarily suspended."
Exotic’s bout with scabies wouldn’t have happened if he had his wish granted to be released in 2022. That December, audio was released of him criticizing the prisoner swap deal that freed Brittney Griner and sent Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout back home to Russia.
“The whole Brittney Griner and Trevor Reed prisoner swap is a slap in every American’s face that is wrongfully detained in the American Federal Prison System, including myself,” Joe said in the recording. “A dangerous man was released for Brittney Griner to be free. It’s time Joe Exotic gets to go home for Christmas to be home with [boyfriend] Seth and his son for the first time in 5 Christmases.”
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