A local resident sent an e-mail to City Manager Russ Blackburn on Sunday saying it had been brought to her attention that a man camping out at the local homeless center and using its facilities may be suffering from untreated scurvy and said he should be treated for it if that’s the case as well as for the sores he has on his body.
The Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry runs the homeless center, which is known as Grace Marketplace and is located at the former Gainesville Correctional Institution.
Theresa Lowe, the coalition’s executive director, told The Sun the man has actually been diagnosed with scabies and has gotten medication for it. The coalition also has been in contact with the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County about his condition and has tried to do other things to assist him as well.
Scabies can only be spread through personal contact, and the coalition is doing what it can to prevent that, she said. They’re trying not to have him sit on furniture that’s being used by anyone else, for example. They’re also cleaning the shower once he’s done and throwing away the towels he uses.
Luckily, Lowe said, this is something that isn’t easily transmittable.
“It’s not as contagious as it sounds,” Lowe said. “I mean, you really do have to have personal contact.”